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Mbeki facing questions over his zimbabwe efforts

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Picture: (AFP/Jekesai Njikizana)
South African President Thabo Mbeki comes out of Rainbow Towers hotel in Harare where he was facilitating talks between Zanu PF and the two MDC formations.

Analysts say South African President Thabo Mbeki faces a regional summit this weekend without having brokered a deal among Zimbabwe’s main rivals, again raising questions over his often criticised approach to the crisis.

The summit will be held on Mbeki’s home turf in South Africa and follows three days of meetings he mediated earlier in the week in a push to reach a deal to end Zimbabwe’s protracted crisis.

This week’s talks in Harare broke up without a deal between all three rivals participating in the negotiations, and Mbeki is expected to update his peers, who appointed him as facilitator, on his mediation efforts.

Some analysts say While he will arrive at the summit with the crisis still unresolved, simply managing to bring Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai to the table may have provided Mbeki a measure of vindication for now.

The analyst says pressure still remains for Mbeki’s longstanding mediation efforts to achieve results.

Mpanyane says “whatever progress and achievements made during this week may amount to nothing if a deal is not achieved soon”.

MRN-AFP

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