Mugabe 'devastated' over Mbeki

2008-09-25 11:09

Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has called the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki "devastating", the Herald newspaper reported on Thursday.

"It's devastating news that President Thabo Mbeki is no longer the president of South Africa, but that is the action of the South African people. Who are we to judge [them]? But it is very disturbing," he reportedly told journalists on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

Mbeki was the SADC-appointed mediator in the Zimbabwean inter-party dialogue, and successfully brokered a power-sharing deal between Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations, the Herald reported.

Mugabe told journalists he had informed Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza of the progress Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations had reached in forming an inclusive government.

Addressing the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said there was no reason to panic since the South African government would remain focused on Zimbabwe.

- SAPA