Zimbabwe: Mbeki Heads for Harare to Push Deal

8 August 2008
allAfrica.com

Cape Town — South African President Thabo Mbeki will spend the weekend in Zimbabwe attempting to facilitate a settlement of the country's political crisis.

The South African foreign ministry said in a statement issued on Friday that Mbeki would travel to Zimbabwe on Saturday, where he would meet the heads of the Zimbabwean political parties involved in power-sharing talks - Robert Mugabe of Zanu-PF, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Arthur Mutambara of another faction of the MDC.

Mbeki was expected back in South Africa on Sunday afternoon, the statement said.

Zimbabwe's parties are reported to be close to a deal, but still to have to resolve key issues,  notably the degree to which Mugabe will cede and Tsvangirai will assume executive power. Harare's Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported on Thursday  that Mugabe's military chiefs, represented in the government's Joint Operations Command, are opposed to Tsvangirai having executive powers.

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