Mugabe, opposition leader consider sharing power

Zimbabwe rivals agree to talks

Robert Mugabe (center) with Morgan Tsvangirai (right) and Arthur Mutambara, leader of the opposition party's other faction. (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his bitter rival, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, shook hands for the first time in a decade yesterday, agreeing to settle the country's violent political crisis.

The handshake in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, came after 120 Zimbabwean opposition activists were killed in state-sponsored violence, thousands were jailed, and tens of thousands were driven from their homes in recent months.

The framework for talks between the two men allows two weeks to reach a viable solution to the crisis, despite the deep-seated differences between the two sides. The agreement commits the ruling ZANU-PF party and opposition Movement for Democratic Change to work toward an agreement on an "inclusive government" but includes no specifics.

The two met briefly in 1998, before Tsvangirai formed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, which went on to become the biggest threat to Mugabe and the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Mugabe, who clung to power in a widely condemned one-man presidential runoff election on June 27, demands recognition as president, while the opposition says Tsvangirai won in a first-round election between the two men on March 29. The West has rejected Mugabe's victory, and three teams of African election observers condemned the runoff.

The agreement on talks calls for an end to continuing political violence, a key opposition demand, and for a new constitution. It calls for a sustainable solution to the country's protracted political crisis.

It comes less than two weeks after the UN Security Council rejected tough sanctions on top regime figures, with Russia and China vetoing the resolution.

Zimbabwe went to the polls March 29 in a vote that saw the ruling ZANU-PF party lose control of Parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980. Mugabe also polled worse than Tsvangirai in the presidential vote according to official results, with about 43 percent compared to about 48 percent.

The opposition claimed the official count was fraudulent and insists Tsvangirai won 50.3 percent of the vote, enough to have won the presidency in the first round, eliminating the need for a runoff.

Yesterday's meeting was historic, partly because of the vehemence with which Mugabe has rejected Tsvangirai, whom he calls a puppet of the West. He has repeatedly said Tsvangirai will never be allowed to rule Zimbabwe.

Mugabe did not shake hands with Tsvangirai at the signing ceremony, only afterward when posing for cameras, the Associated Press reported.

Tsvangirai said yesterday's agreement on talks was only the first step toward a settlement but added that not finding a solution was "not an option."

With the economy in meltdown, inflation in the stratosphere and unemployment at 80 percent, the country desperately needs a rescue package, reportedly promised by the West in the case of a substantial political settlement.

Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank released a $100 billion note yesterday, worth only $1 on the black market and likely to see its value whittled away by hyperinflation.