Little room for dialogue

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said it welcomes all initiatives to resolve the country's political crisis, but the resignation of President Robert Mugabe remains a condition for meaningful dialogue. "The regime must immediately restore the rule of law and, in particular, repeal the Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, disband the infrastructure of violence and put an end to all forms of state sponsored violence. This must be followed by an announcement by Mugabe to exit from active politics in Zimbabwe. It is in the context of this demonstration of sincerity by the regime that dialogue can meaningfully begin," an MDC statement said. Released on Wednesday, the statement continued: "The focus of the political dialogue must be to arrive at agreed measures designed to put in place a democratic political terrain that would facilitate the holding of a free and fair presidential poll. Such agreed, negotiated measures, must be implemented, monitored and verified by both the MDC and ZANU-PF, local, regional and international observers." State radio reported that a ruling ZANU-PF politburo meeting on Wednesday rejected the idea of dialogue. ZANU-PF's secretary for information and publicity, Nathan Shamuyarira, told the public broadcaster that the ruling party and the MDC had totally divergent views and there was no room for national unity talks. Ahead of a visit to the region next week by US President George W Bush, Shamuyarira said the MDC was peddling a "neo-colonial crusade". Zimbabwe is expected to be an issue for discussion between Bush and South African President Thabo Mbeki. US Secretary of State Colin Powell last month called for Mugabe's resignation and urged regional leaders to be more active in bringing about a solution to the crisis in the country.