Tsvangirai meets ANC chief whip

The leader of Zimbabwe's opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Monday met in South Africa with senior officials of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), a party spokesman told IRIN on Tuesday.

"Among the officials that Mr Tsvangirai met with was Tony Yengeni, the ANC's chief whip," the spokesman said. He added that Tsvangirai had briefed the ANC about the situation in Zimbabwe. "This was a very important meeting, because it was the first real exchange between the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) and the ANC. The meeting was on the initiative of the MDC," the spokesman noted.

Meanwhile, Yengeni told journalists after the meeting: "We see this meeting as an important engagement ... We had a very productive exchange. We hope it will continue. We believe that understanding the crisis in Zimbabwe in all its dimensions is very important."

South African President Thabo Mbeki told journalists in Pretoria on Tuesday after talks with visiting Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok that: "Our responsibility is to engage the Zimbabwe leadership and to try and assist them and support them to improve the situation in their country".