Confusion as MDC's Tsvangirai refuses free flight offer

Published on Monday 20 October 2008 22:22

ZIMBABWE'S opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has refused an offer from Swaziland's king to fly him to a regional summit aimed at breaking an impasse in power-sharing talks.

King Mswati III, who is hosting the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting, had offered to send a private jet to Zimbabwe to fetch Tsvangirai, who has been unable to obtain a new passport.

"I've just spoken with him (Tsvangirai). He told King Mswati III not to send the plane. He's not coming," Roy Bennett, of Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said.

The MDC says Zimbabwe's government has refused to give Mr Tsvangirai the travel papers needed to attend the SADC security committee meeting, which was called after weeks of fruitless negotiations over the allocation of cabinet positions.

Mr Tsvangirai, who would become prime minister under a power-sharing deal signed last month, was given a document permitting travel to Swaziland but not to South Africa, which separates the two countries, the MDC said.

Zimbabwean information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu dismissed the MDC claim as "a gimmick".

"That's not true. He has been given a travel document. South Africa is mediating, how can they deny him passage?" he said.

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe is taking part in the Swaziland summit. Former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who has mediated the crisis since 2007, and representatives of Swaziland, Angola and Tanzania also will attend.

Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway MDC faction and is also part of the power-sharing deal, had said the summit would have no legitimacy without MrTsvangirai. He demanded through Mr Mbeki that it be cancelled if Mr Tsvangirai was not included.

"In the context of the agreement what sort of goodwill is that?" asked Mr Mutambara.

Zimbabwean authorities have issued Mr Tsvangirai with short-duration emergency travel documents which he claims curb diplomatic travels.