(dpa) - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change held talks Friday with former UN secretary
general Kofi Annan on Zimbabwe's post-election crisis, South African radio
reported.
The MDC team led by party secretary-general Tendai Biti met Annan and Prime
Minister Raila Odinga in Kenya, which was rocked by post-election violence
earlier this year.
Annan brokered the talks between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader
Odinga on the formation of a power-sharing government that ended weeks of
bloodshed in the east African nation.
It was not clear whether the MDC had asked Annan to act as mediator in Zimbabwe.
Three weeks after the country's presidential elections the state-controlled
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is refusing to release the results. At the same
time it has allowed a partial vote recount Saturday.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed victory over President Robert Mugabe -
a claim Mugabe's party rejects.
While Zimbabwe does not have the same tribal divisions as Kenya, analysts have been warning of an outbreak of violence if the election stalemate
continues.
Youth militia loyal to Mugabe have beaten up scores of people suspected of
voting for the MDC in the past two weeks - killing four, according to the MDC.
Tsvangirai on Thursday called for South African President Thabo Mbeki to be
replaced as the Southern African Development Community's mediator in the
standoff after he declared there was "no crisis" in Zimbabwe.
South African radio reported Friday that SADC had ruled out replacing Mbeki.
"Kenya is special for us ... because of the special circumstances that
people here have gone through. There is a basic correlation. Your people feel
our bitterness, our people share your bitterness," Biti told Kenya's independent station NTV.