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ZIMBABWE: Chissano appointed special AU envoy on Zimbabwe
IRIN
News
August 10, 2005
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48525
JOHANNESBURG
- African Union (AU) chairman Olusegun Obasanjo has appointed former
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano as his "special representative"
to Zimbabwe, according to official sources.
However, AU spokesman Adam Thiam was unable to provide details of
Chissano's duties as a special envoy.
The official Zimbabwean daily, The Herald, reported on Wednesday
that Chissano would mediate between the ruling ZANU-PF party and
the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), but President
Robert Mugabe, the ZANU-PF leader, had on Monday reportedly ruled
out any possibility of talks with the MDC.
Mugabe dismissed the opposition as "stooges and puppets", and was
quoted as saying that he would rather speak to "the principal",
British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Analyst Chris Maroleng of the Pretoria-based Institute of Security
Studies noted that "as Chissano's terms of reference were unclear,
it is difficult to speculate what he would set out to do - we don't
know whether it is a watching brief, or he would play an active
role in trying to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe".
He said it was possible that Chissano had been appointed because
Obasanjo had been unable to devote enough time to the Zimbabwean
crisis.
The recent report by UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka
on Zimbabwe's controversial Operation Murambatsvina (Drive Out Filth)
recommended political dialogue between the ruling party and the
opposition.
Unofficial talks between the ZANU-PF and the MDC have been 'on'
and 'off' since the 2002 presidential election, which many poll
observers rejected as flawed and marred by political violence. Earlier
this year the clergy attempted to break the political impasse between
the two parties, but failed.
South African media reported over the weekend that the resumption
of talks with the MDC was one of the conditions attached to a loan
package being offered to Zimbabwe by Thabo Mbeki's government. Reports
claimed that the loan amount, between US $200 million and $500 million,
included a payment of about $100 million to the International Momentary
Fund (IMF) to prevent Zimbabwe's expulsion over arrears.
Joel Netshitenzhe, a South African government spokesman, labelled
the reports as "speculative" and said negotiations were "ongoing".
He reiterated the government's reponse last week, which noted that
the principles and considerations guiding the possibility of a loan
would be Zimbabwe's "economic recovery" and "political normalisation".
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