Opposition confirms offer of Mugabe's exit

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said that he was approached with a deal from the ruling party that included a safe exit for President Robert Mugabe and a national unity government to lead Zimbabwe out of its economic crisis. Tsvangirai said in a statement on Wednesday that retired Colonel Lionel Dyke had contacted him on behalf of Emmerson Mnangagwa [widely regarded as Mugabe's chosen successor], and armed forces chief of staff General Vitalis Zvinavashe about the deal and promised that Mugabe would stand down. "I told Dyke that ... we were prepared to assist in the necessary transitional arrangements to enable Zimbabwe to move forward [but] I made it categorically clear that this does not mean participating in the formation of a government of national unity or some underhand pact with ZANU-PF," Tsvangirai said. Since news reports at the weekend of the exit plan, Mugabe and other ruling party officials have denied they ever made such an offer. On Tuesday Mugabe scoffed at suggestions that he was prepared to give up power, saying it would be "foolhardy" for him to step down after winning a new term in office in March 2002. French news agency AFP quoted Mugabe as saying: "Only a few months ago, the people elected me to serve them and it would be absolutely counter-revolutionary and foolhardy for me to step down." Reports named Britain and South Africa as key brokers of the transition plan while Malaysia was said to have offered Mugabe sanctuary. However, South Africa has denied that it was part of the initiative. Under the alleged deal Mugabe would have received a guarantee of immunity against prosecution over alleged misrule and human rights violations. Talks between the MDC and ZANU-PF on the political crisis collapsed last year with the opposition refusing to accept Mugabe's election victory over Tsvangirai. Many Western countries also condemned the poll as fraudulent. In the political stalemate that has followed, Zimbabwe's economic and humanitarian emergency has worsened. Given the depth of Zimbabwe's decay, "the ruling party has no option but to restart the process of dialogue", civil rights activist Reginald Machaba-Hove told IRIN. He said that while Dyke's mission may have failed in the short term, "I suspect another road map will emerge which may end up at the same destination but perhaps with a slightly different street number."