Zimbabwe: A Daily Struggle Slideshow
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai are meeting Monday in Harare to try to salvage their
power-sharing agreement.
Former South African President Thabo
Mbeki, who brokered the deal, says he is optimistic about finalizing
plans for a unity government.
The Southern African Development
Community convened the meeting amid fears the power-sharing deal was
about to unravel after weeks of tense negotiations.
Last week,
Tsvangirai refused to go to a similar meeting in Swaziland because
Zimbabwe authorities would only issue him emergency travel documents
instead of renewing his passport.
Tsvangirai says he is
committed to reaching an equitable power-sharing agreement with
President Mugabe, but that he will not agree to something just to get a
settlement.
Last month, the two leaders signed a
deal to form a unity government, however the agreement since stalled
over a dispute over how to allocate key cabinet positions.
Under
the agreement, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change would
control 16 Cabinet posts, with the ruling ZANU-PF party getting 15.
This
month, Mr. Mugabe unilaterally gave his ZANU-PF party control of key
posts that oversee the military, police and foreign affairs. This led
the MDC to threaten to pull out of the deal.
The agreement was
designed to end the crisis sparked by Zimbabwe's disputed and
widely-dismissed presidential elections earlier this year.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.