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SA says Zimbabwe's political issues are solved
Mail & Guardian (SA)
February 05, 2008

http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/&articleid=331561

Negotiations to address Zimbabwe's political crisis were no longer needed as it was only procedural issues that remained to be solved, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.

The parties have agreed to all "substantive matters" and it was an issue of procedure that remained outstanding, Pahad said during a regular media briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

"There are no longer any negotiations needed; it's now procedural, they have agreed to everything ... it’s now really procedure that the Zimbabweans themselves have to sort out," Pahad said.

He said President Thabo Mbeki would continue to mediate between the parties to solve the outstanding issues.

Pahad was briefing reporters on a report Mbeki gave to Southern African Development (SADC) leaders on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia last week.

Mbeki said that President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have completed negotiations on all substantive matters related to the political situation in the country.

SADC on Tuesday lauded Mbeki's mediation efforts.

"Summit congratulated and thanked the SADC facilitator President Mbeki and his facilitation team, for the role they had played in helping to achieve this outcome and asked President Mbeki to continue in his role as facilitator on Zimbabwe, to help the Zimbabwe parties to conclude the outstanding 'procedural' matter of the enactment of the agreed draft Constitution," the statement said. – Sapa

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