Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe government to sign talks deal

Article published on the 2008-07-20 Latest update 2008-07-20 16:19 TU

Morgan Tsvangirai, July 2
(Credit: Reuters)

Parties in Zimbabwe have reached consensus on a draft agreement towards holding substantive crisis talks, a UN special representative to the country has said. The decision came after the announcement that a group of senior diplomats are to help South African President Thabo Mbeki in his efforts to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis.

The apparent breakthrough came after Mbeki, who has been brokering talks, proposed forming a team drawn from the UN, African Union and the Southern African Development Community.

The move was welcomed by Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who has been critical of Mr Mbeki.

The development could see Tsvangirai sign an agreement as early as Monday to start talks with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

The Movement for Democratic Change has refused to recognise Mugabe's victory in a 27 June run-off vote held after Tsvangirai pulled out, due to violence by ruling party militia.

Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election in March, but fell short of the absolute majority needed to avoid the second ballot.

The standoff has dampened hopes of halting an economic meltdown that has forced the central bank to introduce a 100 billion Zimbabwe dollar note to combat hyperinflation.