Mbeki Due in Harare Amid Reports of a Deal in Zimbabwe Crisis

South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected in Zimbabwe on Saturday, amid reports the country’s feuding parties might have reached a pact to end the eight-year political crisis that has gripped the country.

Mbeki was expected to jet into the capital Harare Saturday afternoon for meetings with President Robert Mugabe and the two faction leaders of a split opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.

He would table a proposal on power-sharing that was agreed by negotiators from Mugabe’s ZANU PF and the MDC factions in inter-party talks being mediated by South Africa.

Mbeki is facilitating the talks under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Sources said Mbeki will first meet the three Zimbabwean leaders separately before arranging a joint meeting where they are expected to endorse the draft deal agreed by their representatives in Pretoria, the South Africa capital.

The successful resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis would be a major diplomatic coup for the under-fire Mbeki who has been criticized for “quiet diplomacy” tactics against alleged human rights abuse by Mugabe’s government.

A deal this weekend would help restore the South African leader’s battered image as his country prepares to take over the chairmanship of SADC from Zambia.

The SADC summit will be held in South Africa on 14 and 15 August.

Source African Press Agency

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