Zimbabwe Talks to Begin in South Africa

Talks to resolve Zimbabwe’s political crisis have began at an undisclosed venue in Pretoria, South Africa. President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF sent a delegation headed by cabinet ministers Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche, while the opposition side has Tendai Biti, the Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), as its chief negotiator. The talks are expected to yield a unity government within two weeks, as agreed in a Memorandum of understanding signed Monday between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. [PE]