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Tsvangirai
rejects Zimbabwe talks for now |
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 (July
4,2008) HARARE - Zimbabwean opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday rejected talks on a unity government,
saying President Robert Mugabe must first stop violence and accept
him as the rightful election winner.
African Union leaders called at a summit on Tuesday for the two sides
to negotiate to end the crisis after Mugabe's re-election in a June
27 ballot that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed by much
of the world as a sham.
Tsvangirai pulled out of the election because of attacks on his supporters.
He had won a first round vote on March 29.
"Significantly the conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe are not
conducive to negotiations. If dialogue is to be initiated, it is essential
that ZANU-PF stops the violence, halts the persecution of MDC leaders
and supporters," he told a news conference in Harare.
Tsvangirai said talks had to be based on recognising only the first
round vote. He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) should
be the legitimate government after beating Mugabe's ZANU-PF in parallel
parliamentary elections.
Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the call from African leaders
for talks on a power-sharing government.
"We are committed to talk, not just with Tsvangirai but to other
parties as well," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told
Reuters. Despite the AU support for a power-sharing deal modelled
on the one that ended post-election violence in Kenya earlier this
year, disagreement over who should lead the government could prove
an insurmountable obstacle.
Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after
election authorities announced he had won about 85 percent of the
vote in a run-off, which was condemned by monitors and much of world
opinion as violent and unfair.
The veteran leader has presided over an economic catastrophe marked
by the world's highest hyperinflation, food and fuel shortages and
80 percent unemployment. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to neighbouring
countries. |
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