Election results & Breaking News!

No AU mediator no negotiations-MDC
                                       By Blessing Chapwati
Zimbabwe's opposition leader says his party will not be part of a mediation process that does not include a permanent representative from the African Union.

 Addressing a media briefing to respond to the on going 11th ordinary  session of the AU General Assembly in Harare MDC leader Morgan  Tsvangirai said unless the mediation team is expanded to include a least one permanent AU representative the process will not be  meaningful.
 
 "The resolution (AU) does not adequately deal with the ongoing  violence in Zimbabwe. Significantly, the conditions prevailing in  Zimbabwe today are not conducive to negotiations." Tsvangirai said.
 
 Tsvangirai added that his party is committed to a negotiated
 settlement of the Zimbabwe crisis but negotiations should acknowledge  MDC as the winner of the last credible elections held on the 29th of  March and should be recognized as the legitimate government of  Zimbabwe.
 
 "While the MDC remains committed to negotiations these must be based  on the 29th March results and must move towards a transitional  agreement. Our commitment to a negotiated settlement is not about  power-sharing or power deals but about democracy, freedom and justice.
 
 Several MDC leaders and supporters have been killed and arrested in  the run up to the 27 June election.
 
 Nine MDC supporters were murdered, hundreds beaten and forced to leave their homes in the aftermath of the 27 June election.
 
 According to the MDC, five hundred MDC supporters and families have  been forced to flee their homes and are now seeking refuge at the  party's headquarters in Mutare.
 
 Tsvangirai also refuted reports that appeared in the British newspaper  about him settling for the position of a Prime Minister in the  transitional government.
 
 "There is nothing like that. Those can only be details of the
 negotiations," Morgan said.
 
 The African Union has recommended a transitional government for  Zimbabwe but has not appointed a permanent representative to mediate between ZANU PF and the MDC.
 
 The MDC has expressed reservations about the role of the SADC  appointed mediator South African president Thabo Mbeki in resolving Zimbabwe's political crisis.
 
 President Robert Mugabe hinted on the need for urgent negotiations in  his acceptance speech during the inauguration ceremony on Sunday.