Zimbabwe power-sharing deal to be signed

On paper – and it’s a paper he has yet to sign or even publicly admit exists - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe appears to be acknowledging at last that he cannot rule the African country alone.

Mr Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader and a leader of a smaller opposition faction will sign a power-sharing deal today that has resulted from weeks of negotiations mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Mr Mbeki and Morgan Tsvangirai, the main opposition leader, announced a deal late on Thursday.

They gave no details, saying the agreement would be made public today.

Members of the opposition first gave the broad outlines on Friday, and media controlled by Mr Mugabe confirmed their version yesterday.

Even the time of today’s ceremony had not been released by late yesterday, but South African officials said Mr Mbeki will attend with his Foreign Affairs minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and Sydney Mufamadi, a cabinet minister who has led the mediation effort.

“The South African government has noted that while this is cause for celebrations, we remain all too aware that this historic milestone constitutes but the end of the beginning,” South Africa’s government said in a statement.

According to Zimbabwean state radio yesterday and the opposition members earlier, the agreement to be signed today calls for a Cabinet with 31 members; 16 from the opposition and 15 from Mr Mugabe’s party.

It is an acknowledgement from Mr Mugabe – accused of holding onto power through violence and fraud and ruining the economy – that his party no longer draws the support it once enjoyed from Zimbabweans.

But opposition members who wanted Mr Mugabe to surrender power completely have complained the deal does not go far enough, and creates a complicated arrangement Mr Mugabe could exploit, especially given the tension that exists between the two opposition factions.