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Mugabe still not sure if he'll talk to Annan
Mail & Guardian (SA)
June 29, 2006

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=275765&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was still not sure if he would meet with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the upcoming African Union (AU) summit in Gambia this coming weekend, a party spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Mugabe would make the decision himself after the key decision-making body of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) did not make a formal recommendation on the issue, Nathan Shamuyarira said.

"It is for the president to handle when he gets to Banjul," the spokesperson said in televised comments.

The focus of the summit is expected to be Darfur, the Sudanese government is expected to be pressured by African leaders to accept a UN peacekeeping operation in the troubled western Sudanese region.

Reports from South Africa have suggested Mugabe would meet both Annan and South African President Thabo Mbeki on the sidelines of the AU summit in Banjul.

Both men are keen to see an end to Zimbabwe's political and economic crises, the worst in decades. Annan was last year invited by Mugabe to visit Zimbabwe, but recently Mugabe's spokesperson said the invitation had now expired.

Last year's government campaign of shack demolitions that left up to 700 000 people homeless and jobless in the midst of the Southern African winter has provoked criticism from home and abroad. - Sapa-DPA

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