Tsvangirai Wants Regional Intervention in Cabinet Deadlock

Zimbabwean Opposition leader has called on regional and African leaders to intervene in the country’s deadlocked power sharing talks, saying negotiations with the ruling Zanu-PF party had failed. Tsvangirai spoke Friday, dismissing Zanu-PF’s proposals as "inequitable" and “unacceptable” to his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which holds a narrow majority of seats in Zimbabwe’s parliament. Under a power sharing accord brokered by former South African President Thabo Mbeki last month, 15 Cabinet posts were designated for President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF, 13 for Tsvangirai's MDC and three for Arthur Mutumbara’s splinter MDC faction. The accord faltered when Mugabe unilaterally annexed all the most powerful ministries for his party.[PE]