SOUTH AFRICA: South African President Thabo Mbeki and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hold press conference after talks

Record ID: 454451

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: South African President Thabo Mbeki and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hold press conference after talks
  • Date: 29th July 2008
  • Summary: MEMBERS OF THE EGYPTIAN DELEGATION SEATED SIGNING CEREMONY SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTER AND EGYPTIAN MINISTER SIGNING THE CO-OPERATION AGREEMENT
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6DF8W6TEDILADC9YZRON66TEP
  • Story Text: South African President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday (July 29) denied that talks between Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC had reached deadlock and said they were "doing very well".
    "They (MDC and the ruling ZANU-PF party) have been meeting here now for a number of days and they are continuing to do that, they are doing very well, and we... you remember that in the Memorandum of Understanding, they undertook that they would try and conclude the negotiations within two weeks of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. They are indeed very determined to keep to that, to that commitment, so they are continuing to talk among themselves, and indeed to reach agreements about various matters, that are on their agenda." said Mbeki MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won a first round presidential vote on March 29 but pulled out of the June 27 second round citing systematic violence which the MDC says has killed 120 of its supporters.
    The MDC says only Tsvangirai can lead a new government.
    Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai are under heavy international pressure, including from within Africa, to negotiate a national unity government to end a crisis that has ruined the economy and flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees.
    Mbeki, a lead mediator in the negotiations, said the talks had not yet concluded but would soon adjourn for a couple of days to allow negotiators to return to Zimbabwe to consult with their party leaders. The talks began last week. An MDC source said on Monday they had hit deadlock.
    "They haven't concluded, they will be adjourning shortly for be couple of days, because they want to go back to Harare to go and consult with their principals about work that has been done and then come back by the end of the week to resume the negotiations, but they are proceeding." Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria.
    The negotiations followed a deal on the framework for discussions signed on July 21.
    Mbeki had earlier met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to hold bilateral political, economic and trade discussions at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
    At the joint news conference with Mbeki, Mubarak said discussions were underway to calm tensions over the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Sudanese President Omar-el-Bashir.
    Mubarak said he was making "tremendous efforts to find a solution because it is bad that head of state could go to a court from Africa."
    The ICC chief prosecutor, Louis Moreno-Ocampo, has accused the Sudanese leader of orchestrating a campaign of genocide that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through "slow death" and forced 5 million from their homes.
    South Africa and Libya, backed by Russia and China, have pressed to have the U.N. Security Council suspend the court action against Bashir, after the Arab League and the African Union expressed concern that it could harm efforts to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur.
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