Germany's Merkel says Zimbabwe crisis is 'disastrous'

PRETORIA - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Zimbabwe's crisis "disastrous" on Friday and said she had made the point to South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has been criticised for not taking a tough line on the issue.

Mbeki is mediating in the Zimbabwe crisis and both Western diplomats and South Africa's opposition accuse him of being too soft on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

"I thank South Africa for trying to overcome a very unsatisfactory situation in Zimbabwe ... the situation is very difficult. Not to say a disastrous one which I very clearly said in our conversations," Merkel said after talks with Mbeki in Pretoria.

A source familiar with the meeting's agenda said earlier that Merkel would try to persuade Mbeki to take a harder line.

Critics accuse Mugabe of human rights abuses and of presiding over the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy, which has the world's highest inflation rate of about 6,600 percent and unemployment levels of about 80 percent.

Mbeki has adopted a policy of "quiet diplomacy" toward Mugabe and has been mediating talks between Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change, the southern African nation's main opposition group.


TALKS

The South African president said good progress has been made in the negotiations between the Zimbabwean rivals.

"There is a common determination to conclude them as quickly as possible. We are confident that they will reach an agreement on these matters," Mbeki said after his talks with Merkel.

"There is a united voice emerging from the ruling party (ZANU-PF) and opposition on what to do to address these political problems," he added.

Merkel, who put tackling poverty in Africa on the Group of Eight industrialised countries' agenda during her presidency of the grouping this year, has not signalled a willingness to follow British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cue on Zimbabwe.

Last month Brown said he would boycott an EU-Africa summit in Lisbon in December if Mugabe was invited.

On Friday, Merkel reiterated her government's position that everybody should be invited to the summit.

African leaders are threatening their own boycott if Mugabe does not attend the summit, aimed at tackling the continent's problems.

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, is subject to an EU travel ban, although it is expected that it would be suspended to allow him to attend the summit.

The Zimbabwean leader says the West has sabotaged his country's economy as punishment for his seizure of thousands of white-owned firms and the transfer of the land to poor blacks. His critics blame the problems on economic mismanagement.

Zimbabwe's hardship has driven many people to flee to South Africa and other neighbours, straining regional economies.

"South Africa itself is affected by the situation in Zimbabwe, for example by the many refugees, and has its own interest in finding a solution," said Merkel.