Zim talks to push ahead - SA

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Johannesburg - Talks between Zimbabwe's rivals will push ahead "until we find a solution", South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Friday ahead of a regional summit where the country's crisis is high on the agenda.

"Of course there isn't power-sharing right now, but the talks are still going on," Dlamini-Zuma told reporters ahead of a weekend summit of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community.

"Until we find a solution they will continue to go on because [the] SADC doesn't have the luxury of walking away from Zimbabwe."

Zim rivals arrive in SA

Zimbabwe's political rivals had arrived in South Africa ahead of the summit, and main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangrai was expected to meet with the SADC's political and defence body on Friday night.

The body includes Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and Swaziland King Mswati III.

Arthur Mutambara, the head of a smaller Zimbabwe opposition faction, had also been invited to the body's meeting, said Dlamini-Zuma.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was to participate in the summit after arriving in Johannesburg on Friday.

AU keeps eye on negotiations

Power-sharing talks were stalled when three days of negotiations adjourned on Tuesday after Tsvangirai said he needed more time to consider a deal agreed by Mugabe and Mutambara.

South African President Thabo Mbeki mediated the talks between the rivals.

African Union Commission chief Jean Ping, who was also in Johannesburg, said the AU was keeping an eye on the negotiations.

"If a sub-region succeeds to solve a problem in a country of the same region, we will applaud," he said. "But we monitor, we have to watch. Shouldn't the process be successful, we will intervene."

- AFP