End is in sight in Zimbabwe

After months of haggling between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai over who should do what in Zimbabwean politics, it seems the end is in sight if South African press reports are to be believed. President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has patiently whittled away objections from both sides and allegedly got some sort of agreement. However, as many people concede, Mugabe is a slippery politician so nothing is certain until he has signed on the dotted line. Some politicians would argue that even then, Mugabe may find a way to opt out of the agreement.

With inflation running at around 20 million per cent, and US and UK aid being withheld until Tsvangirai and his MDC party hold senior posts in the new government, the MDC has powerful weapons with which to negotiate. Mugabe, on the other hand, has found more and more of his Zanu-PF supporters deserting him, leaving him to face the music alone.

For Mugabe, the most important aspect of the negotiations has been not who has power or how it is shared, but how he protects himself and his colleagues from prosecution for corruption and ethnic cleansing.