Zimbabwe dismisses AU mediation effort on crisis

HARARE - Zimbabwe's government will not engage the opposition to end the country's political crisis despite African Union (AU) efforts to mediate, state media said yesterday.

The AU's chairman, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, last week appointed former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano to mediate in Zimbabwe's worst crisis since independence in 1980.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has welcomed the mediation offer, saying talks with President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party would pave the way for Mugabe to retire and make way for an interim coalition government that would hold elections monitored by the international community.

But acting Information Minister Chen Chimutengwende told the official Herald newspaper that no talks were on the cards.

"The government of Zimbabwe and ZANU-PF ... do not recognise the MDC as an independent and patriotic party. It is not worth negotiating with," Chimutengwende said.

Chimutengwende said the AU's appointment of Chissano was pointless because "there will be no talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC".

The AU hopes Chissano can smooth relations between ZANU-PF and the MDC, which has repeatedly accused the ruling party of rigging elections to stay in power.

Mugabe says the MDC is a front for Western efforts to topple him from power. Last week he said it would be more useful to talk to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The MDC denies the charges and has said the country's deepening economic crisis, including shortages of fuel, foreign exchange and some commodities and triple-digit inflation, would force Mugabe to negotiate.

Zimbabwe's economy is in its worst plight since independence from Britain 25 years ago. Critics say the crisis has been triggered in part by government seizures of white-owned farms for resettlement of landless blacks -- a move they say gutted the once-key agricultural sector.

- REUTERS