Mbeki Struggling to Keep Zimbabwe Talks on Track: Analysts

HARARE (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki's presence this week in Harare pointed to deep-rooted problems in his efforts to mediate a power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe's political crisis, analysts said Thursday.

Mbeki flew here and held face-to-face discussions with President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday after negotiations at a secret location near Pretoria between Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the main opposition MDC adjourned in apparent deadlock.

After meeting Mugabe, Mbeki insisted the negotiations were on track and would resume on Sunday. He also met with Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a smaller Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction.

"There are naturally some matters which require the negotiators to come back to consult. That's why they are all here in Harare today," Mbeki said.

But observers suggested that the South African leader was putting a positive spin on a difficult situation.

"Mbeki's visit signifies that there has been a deadlock no matter what the negotiators and facilitators would want the world to believe," Charles Mangongera, a Harare-based political analyst, said.

"He (Mbeki) is trying to use his influence to push each of the leaders to make certain compromises," he said.

Takura Zhangazha, a Harare independent political analyst said Mbeki's visit pointed to "an urgency" surrounding certain issues in the power-sharing talks.

"The visit was probably to emphasise to Mugabe what the MDC wants from the talks," Zhangazha said.

Mbeki had met the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in Pretoria on Tuesday before his visit to Harare.

Mugabe, 84, who has been in office since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980, expressed his "total commitment" to the negotiations on Wednesday.

"We are still negotiating, we want to succeed," Mugabe said. "We would like to see the speedy conclusion of the talks ... and successful outcome so that we can focus in the future our attention around our economy".

Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga warned against reading too much into Mbeki's visit to Harare, saying it was simply "part and parcel" of efforts to achieve an all-inclusive government in Zimbabwe.

"There is no deadlock at the talks. Newspapers invented the deadlock and the parties do not agree with that media suggestion," Ratshitanga said.

John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, argued that the media coverage was probably accurate.

"Things are not going well. President Mbeki can pretend that everything is under control. But the body language, even of Mugabe makes it very clear that there is a deadlock," he said Thursday in an interview on South Africa's public broadcaster SA FM.

"I had expected all along that there will be serious problem on agreeing on a vehicle for transition to democracy; either to adopt a government of national unity, as canvassed by the ZANU-PF or create a transitional government, as suggested by the MDC."

Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Mutambara signed an accord on July 21 in Harare to begin talks on sharing power after a months-long election dispute.

While Tsvangirai believes his victory in the first round of a presidential election in March should give him the right to the lion's share of power, MDC sources say Mugabe's negotiators are so far only offering him the chance to become one of several vice presidents.

The political crisis in Zimbabwe heightened after the June 27 victory in the widely denounced and controversial presidential run-off in which Mugabe was the only candidate after Tsvangirai boycotted it, claiming violence against his supporters ahead of the poll.

by Fanuel Jongwe for AFP