Who knew--Mugabe not living up to deal

Times:

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal is close to collapse after only 12 days because Robert Mugabe and his generals are determined to thwart it, Western diplomats said yesterday.

“We are looking at the possibility of this thing failing,” a senior diplomat told The Times as Mr Mugabe demanded an end to the “illegal and unilateral” sanctions at the UN General Assembly in New York last night. Another gave the deal a mere 25 per cent chance of survival, saying Mr Mugabe had entered it in bad faith and had duped the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Both gave warning of catastrophe if the deal collapsed. One spoke of Zimbabwe’s “final implosion”, with “Ethiopian-style” mass starvation and another million desperate people flooding into neighbouring countries.

They said that Mr Mugabe believed he could flout the agreement with impunity because the world was distracted: the West was facing economic meltdown, Washington had a presidential election looming, Gordon Brown was fighting for survival and Thabo Mbeki, the former South African President who brokered the deal, had been ousted.

Nearly two weeks after the agreement was signed Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party and Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have failed even to agree a division of ministries, with Zanu (PF) demanding every key portfolio.

Mr Tsvangirai told Western officials in Harare that the MDC had ceded the Defence Ministry, which controls the Army, and the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation to Mr Mugabe. Zanu (PF) is also demanding the Home Affairs Ministry, which would give Mr Mugabe control of the police, and the Finance Ministry, which would leave it in charge of the devastated Zimbabwean economy.

...

Robert Mugabe is not an honorable person so people should not be surprised he is not living up to the bargain. It is unlikely that he could even if he wanted to because of the thugs who are backing him. His request to have the sanctions lifted is laughable.

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