By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Botswana's president will boycott aweekend summit of southern African leaders because the countrydoes not recognise Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe'sre-election, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
President Seretse Khama Ian Khama's decision not to attendthe summit in South Africa underlines growing pressure fromregional leaders on Mugabe and the opposition to agree onsharing power to end post-election turmoil.
Power-sharing negotiations began last month after Mugabe'sunopposed re-election in June, which was condemned around theworld and boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangiraibecause of attacks on his supporters.
Three days of marathon meetings in Harare this week failedto reach an overall deal.
Botswana's foreign ministry said in a statement thatZimbabwe's current government should not be represented at apolitical level of the 14-member Southern African DevelopmentCommunity (SADC).
"Botswana does not accept the result of the June 27 run-offelection in Zimbabwe as it violated the core principles ofSADC, the African Union and the United Nations," the statementsaid.
Botswana has taken the toughest stand among Zimbabwe'sneighbours but all fear the consequences if its worseningeconomic decline leads to total meltdown. Millions ofZimbabweans have already fled across its borders.
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition will resumepower-sharing talks at the summit, ZANU-PF's chief negotiator,Patrick Chinamasa, was quoted as saying by the state-ownedHerald newspaper. He said ZANU-PF sought a quick end to thestalemate.
PLAYING HARDBALL
Nic Borain, political consultant to HSBC Securities, saidbehind-the-scenes manoeuvring by may be the biggest obstacle.
"You have Tsvangirai's backers who are playing hardball andinsisting on the virtual disappearance of Robert Mugabe, andyou've got Robert Mugabe's backers insisting he remains,maintains some kind of executive powers," he said.
Chinamasa said there was pressure to convene parliament andform a government. ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority inthe elections for the first time since independence but iseyeing a possible alliance with opposition defectors.
"We cannot continue wandering around without direction,hence the need to swear in parliamentarians and open the Houseso that the elected members can continue to fulfil theirconstitutional mandate," he said.
The MDC condemned what it called "corrosive" attempts byministers and intelligence agents to recruit some of itsmembers to join Mugabe's government. "These are the actions ofa desperate and cornered regime," it said in a statement.
Tsvangirai's absence from a new government would do nothingto dispel investors' concerns about a country facing economicruin, with the world's highest inflation of 2.2 millionpercent, chronic food and fuel shortages, and highunemployment.
Chances for a breakthrough in the negotiations may dependon whether regional leaders can present a united front whentrying to persuade all of Zimbabwe's parties to bury theirdifferences.
While Botswana has taken a tough line on Zimbabwe, SouthAfrican President Thabo Mbeki, the chief mediator in the talks,has come under repeated fire for being too soft on Mugabe.
Mozambique's deputy foreign minister, Henrique Banze, wasoptimistic but called on Zimbabweans parties to do more.
"This is a hot issue on the table, which calls forZimbabweans themselves to be more committed, but discussionsare going very well, and we expect good results from the SADCmeeting," he told Reuters.
The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), a Southern Africanorganisation, said it has brought an urgent application to aregional tribunal seeking to have Mugabe barred from thesummit.
(Additional reporting by Phakamisa Ndzamela inJohannesburg; Charles Mangwiro in Maputo; Writing by MichaelGeorgy; Editing by Marius Bosch)
