Mbeki holds talks with Mugabe on poll crisis

President Thabo Mbeki and President Robert Mugabe

Mediator and South African leader Thabo Mbeki held talks with President Robert Mugabe today on Zimbabwe's disputed election, officials said, ahead of a possible run-off that has raised concerns of further violence.

Mbeki, whose "quiet diplomacy" approach towards Zimbabwe's crisis has drawn criticism at home and abroad, met with Mugabe for three hours, said the officials. They did not elaborate.

He did not discuss the post-election turmoil with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as well, party officials said.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who left Zimbabwe shortly after the March elections, says he won the presidential poll outright and his party says it is not planning to participate in a run-off. Tsvangirai has yet to give a final answer on whether he will contest.

If he does not, the 84-year-old Mugabe will automatically win. Mugabe has ruled since independence in 1980.

The MDC is expected to announce their decision on whether to take part in a run-off at a news conference in Pretoria tomorrow morning.

Regional heavyweight South Africa is heading efforts by the regional SADC grouping to defuse the tension in Zimbabwe, which suffers from 80% unemployment, chronic food and fuel shortages and the world's highest inflation of 165 000%.

African solutions
The last time Mbeki met with Mugabe after the election, he denied there was a crisis, a comment which was widely attacked by political rivals and the international community.

Western countries have called on African states to do more to end the standoff. A flood of refugees and concerns about instability and violence have taken their toll on the region.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been talking to African states about how the world body could help make a run-off credible and has expressed concern about the violence.

But Mbeki has said Zimbabwe's problems should find an African solution instead.

Asked in an interview this week whether it would be helpful if UN monitors were allowed into Zimbabwe as election observers to help calm the situation and instill trust in the process, Mbeki said: "I don't like the idea that suggests that as Africans we cannot do the job. - Reuters