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Tsvangirai 'pulls out' of deal
17/07/2008 10:38 - (SA)
Harare - Efforts to agree on a framework for talks aimed at ending Zimbabwe's political crisis stalled on Thursday as state media accused the opposition leader of pulling out of a deal at the last moment.
Government sources quoted in the state-run Herald daily said representatives of the ruling Zanu-PF and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change had reached agreement on Wednesday that would have allowed substantive talks between the two sides to begin under South African mediation.
However the paper said that main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had declined to sign up to the agreement after a discussion with the chairperson of the African Union commission, Jean Ping, who was due in the region later this week.
"It was agreed that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was to be signed in Harare on Wednesday by the three principals and that commitment was conveyed to the facilitator," said an unnamed official quoted in the Herald.
"On Wednesday morning, Tsvangirai indicated that he was not going to attend because he had received instructions from Jean Ping not to sign the MoU."
MDC demands cessation of violence
In comments to the Star newspaper in Johannesburg, Tsvangirai confirmed he had not yet put his signature to an agreement but wanted to wait until Ping holds talks with President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on Friday.
"It is not that we are refusing to sign, but that the processes need to be tightened," he said.
According to sources on both sides, the framework agreement sets out the agenda for the talks and included calls for an immediate cessation of violence, one of the key demands of the opposition.
Tsvangirai had been pushing for greater involvement from the AU, having deemed that Mbeki was inherently biased towards Zanu-PF and veteran President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai won a first round of a presidential election against Mugabe in March although he fell just short of an absolute majority.
He pulled out of a run-off in June after dozens of his supporters were killed in attacks he blamed on Zanu-PF followers. Mugabe still went ahead with the poll, winning a sixth term by a predictable landslide.
- AFP
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Zimbabwe Special Report
