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Zuma Holds Mediation Talks with Zimbabwe's Leaders

   VOA News 17 March 2010
   South  African  President,  Jacob  Zuma  (L)  and Zimbabwe's PM Morgan
   Tsvangirai (R) greet each other in Harare, 16 Mar 2010

Photo: AP

   South  African  President,  Jacob  Zuma  (L)  and Zimbabwe's PM Morgan
   Tsvangirai (R) greet each other in Harare, 16 Mar 2010

   South  African  President  Jacob  Zuma  has  met with Zimbabwe's rival
   political  leaders  to  try  to resolve disputes crippling their unity
   government.
   Mr.  Zuma  held  one-on-one  meetings  in Harare Wednesday, first with
   Zimbabwean  President  Robert  Mugabe  and  later  with Prime Minister
   Morgan Tsvangirai.
   Mr. Mugabe said his meeting with the South African leader went, in his
   words, "very well as usual."
   Mr.  Mugabe  and  Mr.  Tsvangirai formed a unity government last year,
   following disputed and violence-plagued elections.
   The  government  has  stabilized Zimbabwe's economy, but disagreements
   between  the  leaders  and their parties have brought the coalition to
   the brink of collapse.
   Mr.  Zuma  is  mediating on behalf of the Southern African Development
   Community.
   Ahead  of  the  visit,  his office said he will assess how last year's
   power-sharing  deal  is being implemented and seek ways of speeding up
   the process.
   In the latest dispute, Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
   objected  when  the  president  stripped  four  MDC ministers of their
   duties  earlier this month.  Mr. Mugabe reassigned the jobs to members
   of his own ZANU-PF party.
   For  its  part, ZANU-PF says Mr. Tsvangirai has not done enough to get
   foreign  governments to lift targeted sanctions against Mr. Mugabe and
   key allies.
   The  MDC  is  expected to urge Mr. Zuma to call for early elections to
   put an end to the political stalemate.
   The   power-sharing  agreement  between  the  two  parties  calls  for
   elections  in  2011.   But  Mr.  Tsvangirai  and  Mr. Mugabe both have
   suggested they should take place sooner.

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