Mbeki “hopeful” As Regional Summit Opens in Harare, Zimbabwe

South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki said on Monday he was optimistic that an emergency regional summit on Zimbabwe’s crisis would end the country’s political impasse, APA has learned.

Mbeki, who is mediating in the Zimbabwean crisis, said he was hopeful Monday’s meeting in Harare of the security troika of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), would break the deadlock between President Robert Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwean political arch-rivals have failed to agree on how to share cabinet ministries between their two parties, with the MDC claiming it was being given less influential ministries in a proposed unity government.

“I am very hopeful today the meeting will produce a positive outcome,” Mbeki told reporters ahead of the SADC summit.

The SADC summit was called to rescue a power-sharing accord between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, which was on the verge of collapsing following disagreements over the allocation of key ministries.

The remaining hurdle is the control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, with both Mugabe’s ZANU PF and the MDC claiming they should run the portfolio under which falls the police force and the Registrar of births.

The SADC summit is being attended by leaders of Mozambique, South Africa, Angola and Swaziland.

Source African Press Agency

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