Mbeki: Mugabe open to talks

2 July, 2008 in South Africa, Zimbabwe

source: News24
02/07/2008 11:28 – (SA)

Johannesburg – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has told African Union leaders he is open to talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on a unity government, according to President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki, southern Africa’s mediator in Zimbabwe, was speaking after an AU heads of state summit in Egypt on Tuesday ended with a call for a government of national unity in Zimbabwe.

Despite Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba on Tuesday ruling out a Kenya-style unity government and Mugabe storming out of the summit shortly before it closed, Mbeki said, “No, there was no objection”.

“He was fully supportive of the cooperation and dialogue between Zimbabwe’s political parties to find solutions to the challenges they face,” Mbeki told [continue reading]