(HERALD) Sadc snubs MDC-T

Sadc snubs MDC-T
From Mabasa Sasa in KINSHASA, DRC

AN MDC-T delegation that was lobbying Sadc to take "stern measures" against President Mugabe and Zanu-PF left Kinshasa disappointed yesterday after regional leaders made it clear that they would not be pressured into making decisions by political parties.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an MDC-T official said "the lowest point" was when their ally Lieutenant-General Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana conceded that the biggest threat to the inclusive Government was the negative attitude of the West towards Zimbabwe.

Sadc, Lt Gen Khama said, needed to redouble efforts to help Zimbabwe counter these negative attitudes.

The development came against the backdrop of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s admission that a summit on Zimbabwe was not on the cards, and he did not have the power to convene one.

The MDC-T delegation came here hoping to get Zimbabwe on the agenda in the hope that regional leaders would deal with the "outstanding issues" of who should head the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Attorney-General’s Office.

When it became evident that this was not going to happen, the party’s spin-doctors told the media that Sadc leaders were going to arrange a "special summit" that would specifically deal with Zimbabwe "without being clouded by issues like Madagascar".

Though the final communiqué was yet to be released at the time of writing, a senior Zimbabwe Government official close to deliberations said it was highly unlikely that Zimbabwe would be "mentioned except perhaps in passing or in relation to the issue of sanctions".

Sources privy to the discussions in the closed-door session said Lt-Gen Khama had agreed with President Mugabe that economic sanctions were the most pressing issue facing Zimbabwe and not who occupied what office.

The MDC official said, "We had an opportunity to brief President Khama on what was happening in the country and he told us that our report coincided exactly with what President Mugabe had also told him.

"He then said it seemed to him that we were in agreement on what was happening in Zimbabwe and hence

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