Main parties conclude reconciliation talks

The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) said on Friday that they had successfully concluded talks aimed at ending political animosity over recent parliamentary elections, news agencies reported. "The talks were guided by national interests, taking into account national unity, the country's peace and tranquillity and people's development in freedom, democracy and the rule of law," the two parties said in a joint statement. Leaders from the two parties are expected to sign an agreement on Wednesday bringing an end to a year-long political crisis on the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar sparked by controversy over last October's parliamentary and presidential elections.

Talks between the two main parties were organised following bloody political clashes in January in Zanzibar, in which some 23 people were killed. CUF supporters on the islands had staged demonstrations - declared illegal by the government - against the outcome of the October 2000 elections, which they claimed were neither free nor fair. During the talks, the CUF was reported to have demanded electoral law reform and the reconstitution of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, which was accused of partiality, AFP said. CUF Secretary-General Seif Shariff Hamad and his CCM counterpart Philip Mangula are expected to sign the agreement in Zanzibar in the presence of Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Zanzibari President Amani Abeid Karume.