Zimbabwe's political rivals have agreed on a draft constitutional amendment to allow them to form a power-sharing government, but obstacles still remain to setting it up, the opposition said on Friday.
On-off talks between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC have made little progress since they reached a deal in September seen as the best hope of pulling Zimbabwe back from economic collapse.
"We have reached an understanding, an agreement on the draft constitutional bill, pending consultations and endorsement by our different leadership organs," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Reuters.
Negotiators from ZANU-PF, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a breakaway MDC faction have been meeting with mediator Thabo Mbeki in South Africa to discuss the amendment, under growing regional pressure to finalise their deal. Chamisa said the talks had ended.
"The draft constitutional amendment bill is just one of a number of issues that have been on the table. These issues, including the sharing of some cabinet posts, the appointment of provincial governors and other senior government positions, have not been resolved," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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...And the oppo is dumber than a bag of hammers if they think Bob is actually going to follow through on this.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/29/2008 9:54 Comments ||
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Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced renewed pressure from his own party on Thursday to step down following a decision to indict him in one of several graft cases over which police questioned him. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led the call for Olmert to quit. "The prime minister has to take a leave of absence; there's no other choice," said Livni.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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But, but, but, I only managed to sign half the country away so far!
(SomaliNet)Bangkok's two main airports remained occupied by anti-government protesters Friday but Thai authorities appeared to have backed down from earlier threats to end the siege by force. The airports have been closed since Tuesday, stranding thousands of passengers and dealing a severe blow to the crisis-stricken southeast Asian nation's economy at the height of the tourist season.
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whose resignation protesters are demanding, declared a state of emergency Thursday following a cabinet meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city. But Thai government spokesman Nattawut Sai-Kau told reporters Friday that police would avoid using force and attempt to negotiate with the protesters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
Police chief negotiator Suchart Muenkaew told reporters he had asked protesters at Bangkok's Don Muang airport to allow the airport to resume operations. "The prime minister has emphasized we avoid confrontation and damage. We will start with soft means, moving to the last measure — that is dispersing (protesters)," he said, according to The Associated Press.
Somchai rejected calls Wednesday to dissolve parliament, despite the country's army chief Anupong Paochinda suggesting that he do so. "This government has legitimacy," Somchai said. "The administration needs to protect Thai democracy and the Thai people, which is most important."
The People's Alliance for Democracy has said it will not end its occupation of the airports until Somchai resigns. They accuse his government of being a front for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who they want to stand trial on corruption charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Zimbabwe's political rivals have agreed on a draft constitutional amendment to allow them to form a power-sharing government, but obstacles still remain to setting it up, the opposition said on Friday. 
Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced renewed pressure from his own party on Thursday to step down following a decision to indict him in one of several graft cases over which police questioned him. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led the call for Olmert to quit. "The prime minister has to take a leave of absence; there's no other choice," said Livni.
(SomaliNet)Bangkok's two main airports remained occupied by anti-government protesters Friday but Thai authorities appeared to have backed down from earlier threats to end the siege by force. The airports have been closed since Tuesday, stranding thousands of passengers and dealing a severe blow to the crisis-stricken southeast Asian nation's economy at the height of the tourist season. 
