Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 5, 2008

Report: Zimbabwe Parties Near Agreement 
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1D8CA79:A6F02AD83191E160CFF63E13C4ADF3877F0EB4B66EA3A89D&
 
'Star' newspaper, citing unnamed sources, says agreement would make
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai executive prime minister while
President Mugabe assumes ceremonial role 
A South African newspaper says Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition
are close to a power-sharing deal aimed at ending the country's
political crisis.Morgan Tsvangirai (file photo)The Star newspaper,
citing unnamed sources close to the talks, says the agreement would make
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai executive prime minister. The paper
says President Robert Mugabe would remain in office but assume a
ceremonial role.There has been no confirmation of the report from either
party.Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper reports that the parties are
expanding their negotiating teams after extending the talks on Monday.
The paper quotes the ruling party's Information Minister Christopher
Mutsvangwa as saying "the omen is good."The talks in South Africa began
two weeks ago after Mr. Mugabe was re-elected in a poll that the
opposition and many international observers dismissed as a
sham.Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 29 runoff vote, citing what he
said was a campaign of!
  state-sponsored violence against his supporters. The ruling ZANU-PF
party has said that any agreement must recognize Mr. Mugabe's
re-election. The sides are under intense international pressure to reach
an agreement so Zimbabwe can start recovering from its prolonged
political and economic crisis.The country suffers from 80 percent
unemployment and an inflation rate officially pegged at 2.2 million
percent. 

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.


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