Zimbabwe Rival Parties Sign Deal on Talks
Zimbabwe's two main political parties signed an agreement Monday to hold formal talks that seek to end political violence and establish some sort of coalition government.
President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai shook hands reluctantly at the news conference on Monday at the prompting of South African President Thabo Mbeki, who mediated the memorandum of understanding, according to CNN.
The event was the first time the two bitter political rivals have appeared together publicly.
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Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe ever since its independence from Britain in 1980, emphasized that outside input is not welcomed in the negotiations and that talks will be held between Zimbabweans, with the help of South Africa.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai said "it's too early" to make any predictions on the outcome of the talks, but added that it is "a collective effort and it involves tolerance, compromise, [and] putting the best interest of Zimbabwe at the forefront of these negotiations."
Tsvangirai had garnered the most votes during the March 29 presidential election, but had failed to win the clear majority needed to be declared president. Then in June, he pulled out of the race a week before the run-off election citing as his reason the political violence targeted at his supporters.
The Movement for Democratic Change, Tsvangirai's party, claims more than 100 of its supporters have been killed since the March 29 election.
As a result of the pullout, Mugabe claimed to be re-elected by the people in the one-candidate election. Critics and most international governments, including the United States, however, have denounced the election as fraudulent and do not recognize Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president.
President Bush rallied for support to impose U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe at the Group of Eight summit in Japan. He called the June 27 run-off election a "sham" and denounced the state-sponsored violence against supporters of the opposition party.
Prior to Monday's deal, the two parties first held talks after the election on July 11 in South Africa about the conditions for further negotiations.
But while the political rivals are now on speaking terms, the MDC leader still refers to Mugabe as president of the Zanu-PF party and not Zimbabwe.
The talks, to be mediated by South Africa's Mbeki, will take place over the next two weeks.
