Summit seeks to end Harare crisis

HARARE, Thursday

Zimbabwe’s feuding political leaders are in Maputo, Mozambique for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) defence and security organ summit that will seek to end the three-week impasse in Harare’s fragile coalition.

The three principals nine month old inclusive government – President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara are leading a team of negotiators to the summit largely seen as a make or break attempt at rescuing the marriage of convenience.

The host Mozambican President Armando Guebuza has also invited South Africa President Jacob Zuma to help the troika that also has Zambian President Rupiah Banda and Swaziland’s King Mswati 111 to tackle one of the region’s longest running conflicts.

Mr Tsvangirai partially withdrew from the unity government on October 16 protesting against what he said was President Robert Mugabe’s reluctance to fully implement their power sharing agreement.

DRC President Joseph Kabila, who spent the better part of this week as Mr Mugabe’s unwelcome guest in Harare will also attend the summit in his capacity as SADC chairman.

Foreign ministers from Zambia, Mozambique and Swaziland – which form the troika – recommended the summit after discovering during their fact finding mission last week that the relationship between the coalition parties was severely strained.