Skip to main content

Zimbabwe deal sees Mugabe cede some power

Zimbabwe deal sees Mugabe cede some power: "President Robert Mugabe relaxed his iron hold on Zimbabwe for the first time in nearly three decades of one-man rule on Monday, forced by escalating economic chaos into sharing power with his bitter political rivals.

Thousands of supporters of the rival parties threw stones at each other outside the convention center and several hundred broke through the gates into the sprawling grounds of the convention center where the signing ceremony took place. Police fired warning shots and set dogs on the crowd, which calmed after the initial clashes and cheered as their leaders left.

Mugabe, main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a faction that broke away from Tsvangirai's party, all pledged with passion to make the deal work. But long-simmering and bitter differences between the two sides and the nation's worsening economic collapse are expected to put the power-sharing deal under intense pressure."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Broken Spring?       : Information Clearing House

Broken Spring?       : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/13/2009 | Poll: American public backs Israel firmly in war with Hamas

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/13/2009 | Poll: American public backs Israel firmly in war with Hamas : "WASHINGTON — As Palestinian casualties mount in the Gaza Strip, the American people are squarely behind Israel and overwhelmingly think that using force against Hamas is appropriate, according to a new McClatchy/Ipsos poll. Forty-four percent of Americans support Israel's use of force, while only 18 percent considered Hamas' use of force appropriate. Fifty-seven percent think that Hamas is using excessive force, while only 36 percent said Israel was. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the violence — soldiers and civilians — and at least nine Israeli soldiers and four civilians have died. When it comes to who's to blame for the latest Middle East crisis, Americans blame Hamas hands down: Forty-four percent said Hamas, 14 percent said Israel and 29 percent said they weren't sure. Nine percent said both, and 4 percent said neither."