Tsvangirai: Mbeki should quit

2008-11-26 22:44

Harare - Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday that former South African president Thabo Mbeki should step down as the mediator in Zimbabwe's political crisis.

"He does not appear to understand how desperate the problem in Zimbabwe is, and the solutions he proposes are too small. He is not serving to bring the parties together because he does not understand what needs to be done," Tsvangirai said in a statement.

Meanwhile, AP reported that Tsvangirai said talks aimed at resolving his country's political crisis were making no progress.

Tsvangirai also urged the world to help stop what he called "the impending famine and plague" in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai said he once thought that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party was willing to compromise but that "their intransigence to date is making that appear increasingly unlikely".

The two sides agreed to form a unity government, but ongoing talks have stalled over how to divide Cabinet posts.

Tsvangirai says Mbeki's "partisan support" for Mugabe's party has made it impossible for his party to continue negotiating under his mediation.

AFP-AP

- News24