South Africa says Zimbabwe power-sharing talks under way; Zimbabwe negotiator says Thursday
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: South Africa's presidential spokesman said Wednesday that power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's ruling and opposition forces were under way at a secret location.
But Zimbabwe's justice minister, the chief ruling party negotiator, was quoted as saying they are to start Thursday.
President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed an agreement Monday to hold power-sharing talks to end Zimbabwe's crisis, which has deepened after three months of state-sponsored electoral violence.
The leaders agreed on the need to work together "in an inclusive government" and committed to creating a "genuine, viable, permanent and sustainable solution."
Mukoni Ratshitanga, spokesman for mediator President Thabo Mbeki, said the talks are "in progress," but Zimbabwe's government-controlled Herald newspaper quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa as saying talks start Thursday.
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It is impossible to confirm the information from Ratshitanga since the talks are scheduled to take place in a secret location in or near the South African capital, Pretoria.
George Sibotshiwe, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, referred all questions to Ratshitanga. Chinamasa would not comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
Mbeki persuaded the parties to agree to complete negotiations within two weeks, in a sudden show of urgency apparently heightened by intense international pressure.
The agreement includes a key opposition demand for an end to the political violence, which the oppositions says has left over 120 of their supporters dead, injured thousands and left tens of thousands homeless.
It comes after the opposition won a concession to broaden the mediation of Mbeki, whom they accuse of being partial to Mugabe. Mbeki agreed Friday to include representatives of the United Nations and the African Union.
Mbeki has long argued that dialogue — and not punitive sanctions — is the only way to deal with the longtime African leader.
However, European Union foreign ministers agreed in Brussels on Tuesday to strengthen sanctions against Mugabe — a sign that the West plans to keep up the pressure on him.
Monday's agreement has been seen as a victory for the opposition but gives no indication what Mugabe, who has clung to power for 28 years, may be willing to concede.
Chinamasa and the minister for social welfare, Nicholas Goche, make up the government's negotiating team. The chief negotiator for Tsvangirai's party is its secretary-general, Tendai Biti, working with the deputy secretary-general, Elton Mungoma. A third, breakaway faction of Tsvangirai's party will be represented by its secretary-general and deputy, Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwe-Mushonga.