Mbeki to meet Zim rivals

2008-09-08 10:11

Pretoria - President Thabo Mbeki will meet with leaders of Zimbabwe's rival political parties in Harare on Monday as part of stalled power-sharing talks, a government official said.

"We confirm that the president will visit Zimbabwe today as part of his ongoing SADC (Southern African Development Community) facilitation work," said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.

Mamoepa said Mbeki, the SADC mediator in the power-sharing talks, would meet leaders of the ruling Zanu-PF, the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the splinter MDC faction.

On Sunday, main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for fresh elections, supervised by international observers, if the deadlocked talks did not reach a breakthrough.

Tsvangirai told a public rally that he would only sign a deal that gives him "sufficient" power.

"We would rather have no deal than a bad deal," he said.

Talks between President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai, whose MDC holds a parliamentary majority, deadlocked in mid-August over Mugabe's desire to retain control of the security forces, according to the opposition.

Mbeki's trip to Harare this week comes after Mugabe threatened to form a cabinet if Tsvangirai delayed signing a document to pave the way for a power-sharing deal.

- AFP