{"id":194130,"date":"2008-10-22T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-23T04:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2008\/10\/22\/weekly-zimbabwe-update\/"},"modified":"2008-10-22T23:12:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-23T04:12:00","slug":"weekly-zimbabwe-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2008\/10\/22\/weekly-zimbabwe-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Zimbabwe Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

The short version is that everything is screwed up and the deal is collapsing.<\/p>\n

There is, however some good news, which is that after Mbeki’s<\/span> latest visit, the SADC<\/span> has defacto<\/span> taken him out<\/strong> of the process, because both sides have asked the SADC<\/span> to intervene directly, as opposed to through Mbeki<\/span>, in what Tsvangerai<\/span> calls “Tsvangirai<\/span> slams Mugabe’s dialogue of the deaf<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

This really should help things move along, because Mugabe no longer has a biased ally at the negotiating table, though actually holding the meeting may be problematic, because Tsvangerai<\/span> cannot travel to the meeting until he is
given a passport by the government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result of all this, we have warnings of new sanctions from the US and EU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both the MDC<\/span> and Botswana have made calls for a new election<\/a>, though one wonders how much of that is gamesmanship at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

Of course, nothing involve Zimbabwe would be complete without some truly bizarre machinations, in this case the accusation by the MDC<\/span> that the deal that was formally signed was changed from what was negotiated<\/a>, specifically: <\/p>\n