Zimbabwe crisis talks to begin Tuesday: MDC
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition will begin negotiations on Tuesday on a power-sharing deal that could end a political crisis, an official for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said.
President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a deal on Monday that committed the ruling ZANU-PF and two factions of the MDC to two weeks of negotiations with South African mediators.
"There was convergence among all the parties that the dialogue had to start as soon as the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was done, hence the resumption of that process today," the MDC official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said MDC representatives would fly to South Africa for the talks.
Mugabe's government and the opposition had been deadlocked over talks since the Zimbabwean leader was re-elected on June 27 in a poll boycotted by Tsvangirai because of violence against his supporters. Mugabe blames the opposition for the violence.
The establishment of a government of national unity will be the main issue in the talks, although both sides differ on who should lead it and how long it should stay in power.
The African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), both concerned by a crisis that has flooded neighboring states with millions of refugees, have pushed for a power-sharing deal.
MEDIATION PROCESS
The breakthrough between Zimbabwe's rivals appeared to occur late last week when South African President Thabo Mbeki agreed to expand the mediation process to include the African Union, United Nations and other SADC officials as a "reference group."
Mbeki has been mediating in the crisis for more than a year and had been increasingly criticized, especially from Tsvangirai's MDC, which accused him of taking too soft a line on the Zimbabwean leader's government.
Tsvangirai had previously refused to enter formal talks unless government militias stopped violence he says has killed 120 of his supporters. He also wanted Mugabe to recognize his victory in the first round of the presidential poll on March 29.
Mugabe, 84, has described the MDC as a puppet of the West, vowing never to allow it to take power and demanding that it recognize his landslide victory last month.
Analysts said they expected the talks to be tense and possibly acrimonious.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the country's largest labor federation, has demanded that the mediation process be expanded to include representatives of unions, churches and other groups.
Zimbabwe's economic collapse under Mugabe's 28-year rule has plunged the once prosperous country into inflation of at least 2 million percent as well as crippling food and fuel shortages.
(Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
