Hardliners 'seek Zimbabwe split'

Harare, 27 Oct-(ANA)-Hardliners in Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party are trying to split the country's unity government, says senior official Arthur Mutambara.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party is refusing to co-operate with Mr Mugabe and talks brokered by Mr Mutambara ended with no deal on Monday.

Mr Mutambara, who leads a separate faction of the MDC party, said the leaders must continue to talk.

The MDC and Zanu-PF were bitter enemies before agreeing to govern together.

Analysts say there are factions within both parties who still find it extremely difficult to work together since the government was formed in February following disputed elections last year marred by violence.

Mr Tsvangirai withdrew co-operation with Mr Mugabe on 16 October angry at a prosecution being brought against a senior MDC member.

He also cited frustration at the perceived failure of Zanu-PF to implement measures agreed to as a part of the power-sharing deal which was signed in February.

But Mr Mutambara, one of the country's deputy prime ministers, told the BBC's Network Africa programme he did not believe Mr Tsvangirai had made the right decision.

"There are hardliners in Zanu who are taking the opportunity to offend all of us in government - offend our colleagues led by Morgan Tsvangirai," he said.

"What they want is the collapse of the government.

"What we need to do is to make sure we don't fall into that trap. We have to be clever, we have to be strategic, we have to out-think them."

Mr Mutambara was said to have mediated in a four-hour meeting between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai on Monday.

It was the first time the pair had met since Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the coalition government.

But Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the two men were "worlds apart" on many issues.

The MDC, which was in opposition in Zimbabwe for many years, says it is now looking to a meeting in Harare later in the week of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) to try to break the deadlock. (ANA)

FA/ANA/27 October 2009----