(NEWZIMBABWE) Zuma to meet leaders over rifts

Zuma to meet leaders over rifts
by Reuters
21/11/2010 00:00:00

SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma is expected to meet Zimbbawe’s coalition principals this week for further talks on settling their disputes over power sharing, a Southern African Development Community official said on Saturday. SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao told reporters that Zuma was expected to go to Harare by the end of this week to continue with his mediation efforts.

The regional leaders failed to discuss in detail the tensions in Zimbabwe at a summit on Saturday after Zambian President Rupiah Banda - who is chairman of the SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and Security - failed to attend the meeting held in Botswana.

"After the Troika summit failed to take place, it was agreed that President Zuma should go to Harare again where he would hold talks with the three parties in the (political agreement)," Salamao said.

"After that he would be expected to make a recommendation to the chairperson Rupiah Banda on the next date for another Troika summit."

Although the Zimbabwe government has stabilised the country's economy, President Robert Mugabe and coalition partners Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara have frequently clashed over the pace of political reforms and western sanctions on the country.

Mugabe said last month the power-sharing government would expire in February and should not be extended, leading to new elections by mid-2011.