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President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pledged Monday to draw a line under Zimbabwe's months-long political crisis as they agreed to sit down and resolve their differences.
At a ceremony in Harare overseen by long-time mediator South African President Thabo Mbeki, Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a joint agreement on a framework for talks and shook hands in their first meeting in a decade.
"We sit here in order for us to chart a new way, a new way of political interaction," said Mugabe, who won a controversial run-off presidential election last month which was boycotted by Tsvangirai.
"We must act now ... as Zimbabweans, think as Zimbabweans and act as Zimbabweans," added the 84-year-old who is Africa's oldest leader.
Tsvangirai for his part said it was time to put the "bitterness" behind him and said he was committed to finding a solution with his old rival.
"We are committed to ensuring that the process of negotiation becomes successful.
"We want a better Zimbabwe ... If we put our heads together I am sure we can find a solution," he said.
However Tsvangirai, who pushed Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting in March, pointedly refused to refer to the veteran leader as anything more than president of the ruling party.
According to a copy of the memorandum of understanding seen by AFP, the two sides have set themselves a two-week timeframe to wrap up the talks which are expected to take place in both South Africa and Zimbabwe.
"It is envisaged that the dialogue will be completed within a period of two weeks from the date of signing of this MoU," said the document.
A source in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party said the talks would begin in earnest in South Africa on Tuesday although there was no immediate confirmation from the Mbeki camp.
"We have agreed that the talks begin tomorrow. We are all travelling to South Africa tomorrow," said the source.
Mbeki, who has faced heavy criticism for a previous lack of obvious progress in his mediation efforts, said that all parties wanted a rapid resolution to their dispute sparked by elections in March.
"It commits the negotiating parties to an intense programme of work to try and finalise the negotiations as quickly as possible," said the South African whose face beamed during the signing.
"All the Zimbabwean parties recognise the urgency of the matters they are discussing and all are committed to trying to complete this process as quickly as possible," he added.
Commentators have said that the biggest sticking point on resolving a crisis sparked by disputed elections will be the reluctance of either man to accept a position seen as inferior to the other.
But comments by Mugabe that there was an acceptance of a need to amend the former British colony's constitution will fuel speculation of an agreement similar to that which recently brought an end to a post-election dispute in Kenya, with the creation of a new post of prime minister.
"We agreed ... that our constitution as it is should be amended variously," said Mugabe.
The meeting between the two men was their first since Tsvangirai formed his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at the end of 1999.
The former trade union leader has twice been charged with treason and needed hospital treatment for head injuries last year as he was assaulted by members of the security forces ahead of an anti-government rally.
The pair's bitterness hit new heights during the course of the election run-off when Tsvangirai was detained on five separate occasions while campaigning and his number two, Tendai Biti, arrested for treason.
The MDC leader subsequently pulled out of the contest after dozens of his party's supporters were killed in attacks that he blamed on pro-Mugabe thugs.
Ignoring widespread calls to shelve the ballot, Mugabe went ahead and staged the poll, winning a predictable landslide victory.
Once seen as a post-colonial success story, the former British colony's economy has been in meltdown since Mugabe began a land reform programme at the turn of the decade and annual inflation now stands at some 2.2 million percent.
Unemployment is running at around 80 percent and even basics such as bread and cooking oil are scarce in the region's former breadbasket.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Robert Mugabe (L) shakes hands with Morgan Tsvangirai
AFP
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