LONDON – Opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has denied reports that he held a meeting Friday with senior Zanu PF officials from the Emmerson Mnangagwa and General Solomon Mujuru camps to seek ways through which to remove the ageing Robert Mugabe from power.
Tsvangirai, speaking on the BBC's Today Programme, said such a meeting never took place but he remained open to such initiatives that could help bring to an end the country's ongoing political and economic crisis.
Media reports suggested Tsvangirai had been called into a meeting by the feuding Zanu PF camps who are largely seen by the West as the only ones capable of removing Mugabe from office.
The reports said Tsvangirai, who is widely backed by the West to take over but was regarded as weak, has the support that will bring in the much-needed investment and donor money once Mugabe was out of office. They alleged the meeting was to discuss some power-sharing deal and a sequence to ease Mugabe out of office.
Channel Four News reported Friday that it had uncovered a "secret" meeting between vice president Joice Mujuru, a leading contender to take over from Mugabe, and her South African counterpart, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, in Johannesburg, ostensibly to discuss Mugabe's exit strategy and related issues. The South African meeting was said to have been held as Tsvangirai was meeting the Zanu PF officials in Harare.
Said Tsvangirai: "There was no such meeting. That's mere speculation by the media. Nothing true from those stories. We have always called on all patriotic Zimbabweans who want to see a solution without Mugabe to come together and talk. We have always put the Road Map on the table as the only way out of this crisis. There seems to be a national convergence that such a road map between some in Zanu PF who see a future without Mugabe and the MDC is the only way to deal with the political crisis."
He said a negotiated settlement was the only way through which to get Zimbabwe back on the recovery path.
Expressing confidence that the Zanu PF government was approaching its end, Tsvangirai urged Britain to put pressure on Mugabe through the international community but said he had no desire to see the UK taking unilateral action against Zimbabwe.
"I think every time you make reference to Britain, it raises some anxiety within Mugabe's headquarters. What I've always said is yes, Britain should play a part, but it should play a part within a much wider context," he said.
"In other words, working within the EU and the United Nations framework to try to put pressure on Mugabe to find a solution to the pressures that Zimbabwe is facing."
Tsvangirai said his party would be happy to let Mugabe go into retirement through "an honourable exit". "Our position is that we expect him as a founding president to have an honourable exit. We will be happy to put him aside and concentrate on the job at hand - to concentrate with moving the country forward, create jobs but unfortunately he sees us being vindictive. That's not the case," he said.
Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe had reached the "tipping point" with the "paralysed" Mugabe remaining as the stumbling block to efforts to deal with the ongoing crisis.
Meanwhile the Guardian newspaper reports today that the West is largely frustrated by Tsvangirai and is working to split Zanu PF from Mugabe ahead of a potentially decisive meeting this week.
Diplomatic sources, according to Chris McGreal, say Britain and the US believe that the strongest challenge to Mugabe comes not from the opposition but from within the ruling Zanu PF.
Therefore the West is encouraging dissent by reassuring rebellious factions that their problem is with Mugabe and not the ruling party.
Western officials are said to be looking in particular to General Mujuru, whose province refused to endorse Mugabe's plans to extend his reign by another two years. The sleek General is take Mugabe on at Wednesday's Central Committee meeting, according to international reports.
Mujuru is said to have met European and US officials who have said such an agreement would end targeted sanctions against Zanu PF officials, including travel restrictions, and lead to a resumption of aid.
Under such an agreement, Zanu PF leaders, including Mugabe, would be granted amnesty from prosecution for past crimes such as the Matabeleland massacres in the 1980s and more recent violence.
Arthur Mutambara, the leader of the other MDC faction, told the Guardian his party would not support such an initiative outside a new people-driven Constitution.
Zimbabwe has for the past few weeks been catapulted back onto the news and political agenda following the savage police beatings of the MDC's founding leader, Tsvangirai, and other pro-democracy leaders intending to attend a prayer meeting organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.
Mugabe, however, remains defiant, saying he would participate in next year's presidential election and telling the world that Tsvangirai would never rule Zimbabwe.
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Harare, March 28: Zimbabwe's main Opposition Leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was taken into police custody, an aide said on Wednesday. 
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