Sunday 06th July, 04:04 AM JST HARARE — South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief regional negotiator on the Zimbabwe crisis, met here Saturday with President Robert Mugabe and leaders of a breakaway faction of the main opposition party. Mbeki had a brief discussion with Mugabe, whose re-election last month has been rejected by the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The South African leader and Mugabe were then joined by Arthur Mutambara, head of the dissident MDC faction, its secretary-general Welshman Ncube and the latter’s deputy Priscilla Misihairibwi-Mushonga. The talks came as Zimbabwe’s political deadlock looked set to continue after the two main actors assumed hardline positions and laid tough pre-conditions for talks towards a negotiated settlement. Analysts said...
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