Africa News

SA head silent after Harare talks South African President Thabo Mbeki has left Zimbabwe for home without comment after crisis talks in Harare with his counterpart Robert Mugabe. Mr Mbeki, who is thought to advocate a national unity government as a way to resolve the presidential poll dispute, had been expected to brief journalists. Zimbabwe has still to announce the date of a run-off between Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Mbeki's visit came amid concern that poll-related violence is escalating. Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), remained in South Africa, in self-imposed exile. He has not been in Zimbabwe for the past month although there is growing pressure on him to return home and rally his supporters, the BBC's Peter Biles reports. The MDC still believes that he won the presidential election outright, and there should be no need for a run-off vote. It also firmly rejects the idea of a national unity government, unless Robert Mugabe steps down. Consultations Mr Mbeki has been leading the effort by all southern African states to resolve the political impasse in Zimbabwe. BBC undercover report from Zimbabwe In Harare, he met Robert Mugabe at State House for four hours of talks, journalist Brian Hungwe told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. He then went to the private residence of the South African ambassador where it was thought he was liaising with opposition representatives before returning to resume talks with Mr Mugabe at State House. According to Brian Hungwe's sources, Mr Mbeki met separately with senior MDC officials and Zanu-PF minister Emmerson Mnangagwa in South Africa. Mr Tsvangirai will clarify his own position in Pretoria on Saturday. A second round of voting could be increasingly difficult in the current conditions, Peter Biles notes. The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights says there has been a dramatic escalation in organised violence and torture in the rural areas since the beginning of May. It says many health workers have reported intimidation and some have been specifically instructed by state agents not to treat opposition supporters.