Zimbabwe rivals strike agreement

Johannesburg: Zimbabwe's breakthrough political deal gives the opposition control of the Cabinet and the police, who have terrorised them for years, two opposition officials said on Friday.

That means overhauling Zimbabwe's draconian security and media laws will be a top priority for the opposition, the officials said on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been made public yet.

They said Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe retains control of the country's military in the power-sharing deal brokered Thursday night in the Zimbabwean capital.

It is expected to be signed on Monday in the presence of presidents of neighbouring countries, among them South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, who mediated the agreement.

No statement

Mbeki said at a late night news conference Thursday that the agreement would only be made public on Sunday.

Mugabe has made no statement on the deal, and attempts to reach officials from his party were not immediately available for comment.

Some officials of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said yesterday they are unhappy with the compromises made to reach a deal with Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, and is accused of holding onto power through fraud and violence.

In neighbouring South Africa, however, news of a deal was greeted with cautious optimism among some Zimbabwean refugees, many of whom are eager to return home.

Millions of Zimbabweans have sought a haven in South Africa from political violence and economic collapse

"Our country is beautiful. We want to develop it. We don't want to run away again," said Archie Tapera, 35. He called the power-sharing deal "one of the major achievements in the history of Zimbabwe."

A political settlement would free the leaders to address Zimbabwe's severe economic problems - which include having the world's highest inflation rate and chronic food and fuel shortages.

Western nations are poised to help, but much depends on whether they believe Mugabe has been sidelined.

"The international community should now assist in reconstruction, reconciliation and nation building in Zimbabwe," South Africa's governing African National Congress said in a statement.

European Union spokesman John Clancy said that officials were waiting to get more details on the agreement. He added it was too soon to say whether the deal would lead to the lifting of European travel and banking sanctions on Mugabe and his top aides.

He refused to say what the EU would have to see in the deal to persuade it to lift sanctions.

"I don't think it's for us to make any claims to precisely what should be in an agreement that's been brokered by the Zimbabweans for the Zimbabwean people," he said.

"Ultimately our main concern that any solution is positive solution for the people of Zimbabwe which offers them a better future."