Mugabe Negotiating Exit?

Let's hope this report is true. I have other things in mind for this monster, but as long as the suffering people of Zimbabwe no longer have to be subjected to him, then it's a start.

Advisers to President Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe are in talks with the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, amid signs that Mr. Mugabe may be preparing to resign, a Western diplomatic source and a prominent Zimbabwe political analyst said Tuesday. The negotiations about a possible transfer of power away from Mr. Mugabe come after he apparently concluded that a runoff election would be demeaning, a diplomat said.

A resignation by Mr. Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, would be a stunning turnabout in a country where Mr. Mugabe has been accused of consistently manipulating election results to maintain his lock on power.

There is no guarantee the negotiations will succeed and the situation could still unravel. But a Western diplomat and a political analyst said the opposition was negotiating with Zimbabwe’s military, central intelligence organization and the country’s prisons chief..

“The chiefs of staff are talking to Morgan and are trying to put into place transitional structures,” said John Makumbe, a political analyst and insider in local politics who has spoken in the past in favor of the opposition.

A spokesman for Mr. Tsvangirai, George Sibotshiwe, said “I don’t know anything about such meetings.”

Mr. Tsvangirai scheduled a news conference for 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The diplomats said the joint chiefs had urged the negotiations after becoming convinced that there was no palatable alternative to a transfer of power and that a run-off would lead to defeat for Mr. Mugabe. One Western diplomat said the heads of the armed forces advised Mr. Mugabe on Monday to engineer a second round run-off in the presidential race but Mr. Mugabe responded that a run-off would be a humiliation to him.

More than three days after the vote, the government had still not released any results of the presidential balloting. Under Zimbabwe’s election rules, a runoff would be required if no candidate got more than 50 percent. However, Reuters quoted unidentifed sources in Mugabe’s party as saying it had projected Mr. Tsvangirai got 48 percent of the vote, vs. 43 percent for Mr. Mugabe.

His party has conceded losses already.

He's got to go.