Mbeki, Obasanjo meet Mugabe over land reform

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe received a diplomatic nudge to resolve his country’s land reform troubles on Thursday, during a short visit by South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, agencies reported. “We call on the international community to give support to the resolution of this issue, and to come around to support it materially so that compensation, which is also a part of the law, will be paid,” Obasanjo said. The high-profile and sudden meeting with Obasanjo, who leads Africa’s most populous nation, and Mbeki, who leads Africa’s largest economy, renewed pressure on Mugabe to find a workable solution to his land reform programme.

Obasanjo said the talks had focused on regional issues in west and southern Africa. Mbeki and Obasanjo have been acting as intermediaries between Zimbabwe and its former colonial ruler Britain together with international lenders to implement land reform. The three heads met for two and a half hours at the Mugabe’s State House in Harare. Obasanjo said the meeting had been at his request.