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Opposition denies talk of imminent cabinet deal

Zimbabwe's opposition on Monday denied a suggestion by President Robert Mugabe that a unity government deal was imminent, saying talks were still deadlocked.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 00:02 October 1, 2008
  • Gulf News

Harare: Zimbabwe's opposition on Monday denied a suggestion by President Robert Mugabe that a unity government deal was imminent, saying talks were still deadlocked.

Mugabe told supporters of his ZANU-PF party on Monday that he hoped the government would be formed by the end of this week, ending a two-week deadlock since a framework deal was signed on September 15.

Economic chaos

The impasse with Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over cabinet posts has dashed Zimbabweans' hopes that the country could start to climb out of economic chaos marked by the world's highest rate of hyper-inflation.

Tendai Biti, Secretary-General of Tsvangirai's MDC, said: "He (Mugabe) obviously knows something that I do not know. We have a deadlock, and our positions are tangential. "As far as we know, there was no agreement on anything."

Biti said a constitutional amendment still had to be drafted to give legal effect to the power-sharing deal.

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