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Zimbabwe rivals to resume talks | Zimbabwe rivals to resume talks |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Zimbabwe's political parties will hold a new round of power-sharing talks in South Africa next week, the state-run Herald newspaper has reported. | Zimbabwe's political parties will hold a new round of power-sharing talks in South Africa next week, the state-run Herald newspaper has reported. |
The ruling and opposition parties are deadlocked over the allocation of posts in a unity administration. | |
Several rounds of talks have already failed as the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe worsens. | |
Meanwhile, the government denied a report that it was blocking a visit from former UN head Kofi Annan. | Meanwhile, the government denied a report that it was blocking a visit from former UN head Kofi Annan. |
The Herald, seen as a mouthpiece for President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, reported a government official as saying a planned mission including Mr Annan was biased. | |
Cholera outbreak | |
Mr Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter and human rights activist Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel said they wanted to assess humanitarian needs. | Mr Annan, former US President Jimmy Carter and human rights activist Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel said they wanted to assess humanitarian needs. |
The three international figures are part of a group called the Elders, set up to tackle world conflicts. | The three international figures are part of a group called the Elders, set up to tackle world conflicts. |
"The visit has been deemed a partisan mission by a group of people with partisan interests," an unnamed government source told The Herald. | |
Aid groups say Zimbabwe is facing a major humanitarian crisis. class="" href="/1/hi/world/africa/7726977.stm">Harare diary: New abductions class="" href="/1/hi/world/africa/7714892.stm">Death throes of Harare's hospitals | |
They expect that more than five million people, or nearly half the population, will need food aid by early next year. | |
The economy is in freefall, with inflation last listed in July, at 231,000,000%. | |
An outbreak of cholera is reported to have caused dozens of deaths and health services are in a state of collapse. | |
The Herald said that next week's talks would be led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has overseen mediation on Zimbabwe's political crisis. | |
Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai agreed in September to share power - but not how to allocate cabinet posts. | |
The MDC resisted pressure from regional leaders earlier this month to join a unity government that they say is being dictated by Mr Mugabe. | |
The deadlock follows disputed presidential elections earlier this year. | |
Mr Tsvangirai won the first round in March, but not by enough to secure outright victory. | |
He then pulled out of a run-off in June, citing a campaign of violence against his supporters. |