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Mbeki 'encouraged' by Zimbabwe
12/06/2007 19:00 - (SA)
Cape Town - South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday he had been encouraged by the attitude of Zimbabwe's government and opposition since being tasked to mediate an end to their bitter feud.
"We are encouraged in this regard by the positive attitude evinced by the protagonists in that country," he told MPs in Cape Town during debate on the presidency's annual budget.
The parties, Mbeki said, "do recognise that the people of Zimbabwe expect of them nothing less than concrete action to extricate them from the difficulties they face currently".
Mbeki was asked in March by fellow leaders of the South African Development Community to mediate between the regime of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change ahead of elections next year.
The MDC is threatening to boycott the elections over fears that they will be rigged while Mugabe has accused the opposition as acting as stooges for the former colonial power Britain.
However in a marked change of tone from recent speeches, Mugabe made a point of welcoming the presence of senior opposition members who attended a ceremony that he addressed in Harare on Monday.
'Move with speed'
Mbeki's team has been in touch with both sides but the president has yet to meet directly with either Mugabe or MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mbeki, who has refused to publicly criticise Mugabe as part of a heavily criticised policy of quiet diplomacy, reiterated on Tuesday that "we intend to move with speed in executing this mandate".
Mugabe is widely blamed for Zimbabwe's seven-year economic and political downturn marked by world record inflation, 80% unemployment and a recent violent government crackdown on opposition activists.
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