[R-G] Negotiations May Lead to Mugabe's Exit in Zimbabwe

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/world/africa/02zimbabwe.html>
April 2, 2008
Negotiations May Lead to Mugabe's Exit in Zimbabwe
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

HARARE, Zimbabwe — The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is in talks
with advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe, amid signs
that some of those close to Mr. Mugabe may encourage him to resign, a
Western diplomatic source and a prominent Zimbabwe political analyst
said Tuesday. The negotiations about a possible transfer of power away
from Mr. Mugabe come after he apparently concluded that a runoff
election would be demeaning, a diplomat said.

A resignation by Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa's longest serving leaders,
would be a stunning turnabout in a country where Mr. Mugabe has been
accused of consistently manipulating election results to maintain his
lock on power.

There is no guarantee the negotiations will succeed and the situation
could still unravel. But a Western diplomat and a political analyst
said the opposition was negotiating with Zimbabwe's military, central
intelligence organization and the country's prisons chief.

"The chiefs of staff are talking to Morgan and are trying to put into
place transitional structures," said John Makumbe, a political analyst
and insider in local politics who has spoken in the past in favor of
the opposition.

"The chiefs of staff are not split; they are loyally at Mugabe's
side," said Mr. Makumbe. "But they are not negotiating for Mr. Mugabe.
They are negotiating for themselves. They are negotiating about
reprisals and recriminations and blah blah blah. They are doing it for
their own security."

A spokesman for Mr. Tsvangirai, George Sibotshiwe, said: "I don't know
anything about such meetings."

The diplomat said the joint chiefs had entered the negotiations after
receiving feelers from Mr. Tsvangirai. The Western diplomat then said
the heads of the armed forces advised Mr. Mugabe on Monday to engineer
a second round run-off in the presidential race, but Mr. Mugabe
responded that a run-off would be a humiliation to him.

Graham Bowley contributed reporting from New York.

-- 
Yoshie
<http://montages.blogspot.com/>