Death toll tops 1,100 from Zimbabwe cholera

HARARE (Reuters) - The death toll from a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has soared to 1,111, the United Nations said on Thursday, adding to pressure for a quick solution to the crisis in the southern African country.

South African ruling ANC leader Jacob Zuma ruled out military intervention and, instead, backed a diplomatic push as the way to end the political deadlock and prevent a total collapse of the once relatively prosperous nation.

The latest cholera figures from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva included a new outbreak in Chegutu Urban, west of Harare, where more than 378 cases and 121 deaths were recorded, it said in a statement.

It added that more than 20,580 people had been affected by cholera since August.

The spread of the disease, which causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration, has increased international pressure on President Robert Mugabe, with Western countries renewing calls on the veteran leader to step down.

Prominent figures, including Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Nobel peace laureate and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have called for Mugabe to go or for peacekeeping troops to be sent to Zimbabwe.

When asked in an interview with South Africa's 702 Talk Radio whether he favoured sending troops to Zimbabwe, ANC leader Zuma said: "No. Why military intervention when there is no war? We should be pressurising them to see the light."

MEDIATION

South Africa's ANC-led government, however, has continued to back the regional SADC group's efforts to mediate an end to the crisis. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is leading the mediation of the power-sharing talks.

Mugabe, 84, agreed to share power with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in September, raising hopes that a unity government could reverse the country's economic meltdown and rebuild basic services.

Inflation in Zimbabwe has spiralled out of control, with prices doubling every 24 hours and unemployment is above 80 percent. Millions have fled to South Africa and neighbouring countries is search of work and food.

Negotiations between Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change are deadlocked over who should control key ministries, and there are growing fears the agreement will unravel and lead to widespread political violence.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March presidential election but without an absolute majority. He pulled out of the second round in June amid a wave of violent attacks on the opposition. The MDC said scores of its supporters were killed.

The opposition says the attacks have picked up. They say more than 20 people, including prominent former journalist Jestina Mukoko, have been abducted from their homes and offices in the past two weeks.

A freelance photojournalist, Shadrack Manyere, is among those missing and believed to be in police custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.

"We hold the Zimbabwe government responsible for his safety and well-being, and demand his immediate release," said Tom Rhodes, the Africa programme coordinator for the New York-based group.

(Additional reporting by Paul Simao in Johannesburg and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva)