Nathan Shamuyarira, secretary for information in Mugabe's party, accused Britain, Zimbabwe's colonial ruler, of being behind reports the increasingly dictatorial president would step down in a deal with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"It is not correct. It is a mixture of wishful thinking and mischief on the part of the British," he told reporters at the headquarters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front party in Harare. Independent mediators trying to end the nation's political crisis said on Sunday two of the ruling party's most powerful figures -- parliament speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and armed forces chief of staff Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe -- proposed Mugabe's retirement. The offer was made in hopes of regaining international legitimacy and renewed aid and investment for the country during a period of transitional rule. The mediators, fearing allegations of treason if the offer collapsed, spoke on condition of anonymity. MDC officials also denied the offer on Monday. However, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told The Associated Press on Sunday that he had received the offer. He said his party's lawmakers were ready to vote with the ruling party for a constitutional amendment allowing the creation of a caretaker government once Mugabe stepped down. The power-sharing government would aim to end an economic meltdown that has left at least half Zimbabwe's population on the verge of starvation. There was no suggestion Tsvangirai would head a caretaker government, though his party would be offered a small number of Cabinet posts, the mediators said. Shamuyarira said on Monday that Britain backed the opposition and wanted to see Tsvangirai installed in power. "The British would like to see that happening, but it is not going to happen," he said. Mugabe's whereabouts were unclear on Monday. There was no official word on his scheduled return from a two-week vacation abroad to southeast Asia. In another reversal of opposition policy, Tsvangirai said any agreement on Mugabe's resignation would include guarantees of immunity from trial over alleged misrule and human rights violations during his 23 years in power. He also could remain in the country. Malaysia has reportedly been approached to offer Mugabe sanctuary if he chose to leave. Mugabe, who led the nation to independence in 1980, won a new six-year term in elections last March that independent observers said were deeply flawed. The MDC, along with Britain, the European Union and the United States, have refused to accept the results, saying voting was rigged and influenced by violence and intimidation. Thousands of white-owned farms have been seized, often violently, in the past three years, a practice Mugabe has defended as a justified struggle by landless blacks to correct colonial era injustices which left 4,000 whites owning one third of the nation's productive land. Disruptions in the agriculture-based economy and erratic rains have caused acute shortages of hard currency, gasoline, food and essential imports. Channel News Network
