Zimbabwe Rivals Sign Agreement
- added July 21, 2008
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- mjsmith11
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Zimbabwe’s feuding political leaders appeared jointly for the first time in years on Monday to sign a preliminary agreement laying out terms for negotiations to wrest their land out of political chaos.
The ceremony brought together President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. News reports said the two men had not met for a decade, when Mr. Tsvangirai was a labor union leader before he emerged as the head of the main opposition group in 1999.
While the so-called Memorandum of Understanding was a modest step in light of Zimbabwe’s chaos and collapse, the sight of Mr. Mugabe in the same room as Mr. Tsvangirai seemed a dramatic departure from their land’s more usual images of political bloodletting, electoral rigging and economic ruin.
The two men did not shake hands, according to news reports.
The ceremony in a Harare hotel was overseen by Thabo Mbeki, the president of neighboring South Africa who labored for months as a mediator, defying critics who said his efforts merely gave Mr. Mugabe time to outwit his opponents. Mr. Mbeki sat between the two men as they signed, Reuters reported from Harare.
The agreement “commits the negotiating parties to an intense program of work to try and finalize negotiations as quickly as possible,” Mr. Mbeki said, without giving details.
Mr. Tsvangirai said the accord was “the first tentative step towards searching for a solution for a country that is in crisis.”
Mr. Tsvangirai had grown increasingly hostile to Mr. Mbeki’s mediation, saying the South African leader was biased in favor of Mr. Mugabe. But the mood shifted last week when Mr. Mbeki agreed to a role for the African Union, the United Nations and a 14-nation grouping of southern African nations.
The ceremony on Monday offered Mr. Mbeki some vindication for his efforts and provided ammunition to justify his resistance to demands by the United States and Britain for punitive sanctions against Mr. Mugabe and his close supporters.
Mr. Mbeki flew to Harare on Monday as word emerged of the agreement to sign a preliminary agreement setting out the framework for negotiating a substantive agreement.
In a telephone interview, Ronnie Mamoepa, the South African Foreign Ministry spokesman, called the occasion a “positive step forward in the ongoing dialogue.”
Analysts in Zimbabwe said the toughest issues would not be addressed until full negotiations got underway between deeply opposed and mutually hostile political figures seen by many analysts as unlikely partners in a power-sharing agreement of the kind that emerged earlier this year from Kenya’s post-election bloodletting.
Under that power-sharing arrangement the authorities created a post of prime minister for Raila Odinga, the main challenger to President Mwai Kibaki.
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The ceremony brought together President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. News reports said the two men had not met for a decade, when Mr. Tsvangirai was a labor union leader before he emerged as the head of the main opposition group in 1999.
While the so-called Memorandum of Understanding was a modest step in light of Zimbabwe’s chaos and collapse, the sight of Mr. Mugabe in the same room as Mr. Tsvangirai seemed a dramatic departure from their land’s more usual images of political bloodletting, electoral rigging and economic ruin.
The two men did not shake hands, according to news reports.
The ceremony in a Harare hotel was overseen by Thabo Mbeki, the president of neighboring South Africa who labored for months as a mediator, defying critics who said his efforts merely gave Mr. Mugabe time to outwit his opponents. Mr. Mbeki sat between the two men as they signed, Reuters reported from Harare.
The agreement “commits the negotiating parties to an intense program of work to try and finalize negotiations as quickly as possible,” Mr. Mbeki said, without giving details.
Mr. Tsvangirai said the accord was “the first tentative step towards searching for a solution for a country that is in crisis.”
Mr. Tsvangirai had grown increasingly hostile to Mr. Mbeki’s mediation, saying the South African leader was biased in favor of Mr. Mugabe. But the mood shifted last week when Mr. Mbeki agreed to a role for the African Union, the United Nations and a 14-nation grouping of southern African nations.
The ceremony on Monday offered Mr. Mbeki some vindication for his efforts and provided ammunition to justify his resistance to demands by the United States and Britain for punitive sanctions against Mr. Mugabe and his close supporters.
Mr. Mbeki flew to Harare on Monday as word emerged of the agreement to sign a preliminary agreement setting out the framework for negotiating a substantive agreement.
In a telephone interview, Ronnie Mamoepa, the South African Foreign Ministry spokesman, called the occasion a “positive step forward in the ongoing dialogue.”
Analysts in Zimbabwe said the toughest issues would not be addressed until full negotiations got underway between deeply opposed and mutually hostile political figures seen by many analysts as unlikely partners in a power-sharing agreement of the kind that emerged earlier this year from Kenya’s post-election bloodletting.
Under that power-sharing arrangement the authorities created a post of prime minister for Raila Odinga, the main challenger to President Mwai Kibaki.
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"The two men did not shake hands, according to news reports."
I am glad to see at least something has been worked out. I hope this is a beginning to a bright future for Zimbabwe. -
If the US need to stick ther nose anywhere it is here. We need to be helpping out and bring our Americanism there. They need Starbucks,KFC, and ATT. They need to be told what to think, who to like and not to like. They need the internet and 500 tv ststions with nothing to watch.
If the US can help other coutries without turning them into lil US's, then it will be worht it. But if we go in there and Dictate how things should be instead telling them how it could be; it makes us just as bad as the warring fractions.
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