BBC News, 15 April

MDC set deadline for talks with Mugabe

A senior member of the Zimbabwean opposition says his party will pull out of talks with Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party, if they fail to reach an agreement to re-run last month's presidential elections within four weeks of negotiations. Tendai Biti, a spokesman on foreign affairs for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told Tim Sebastian for BBC HARDtalk that his party would call off negotiations with the Zimbabwe Government if the matter was not addressed. "If after four weeks there is no prospect of an agreement then there is no point in engaging in verbal exercises," he said. On Friday, the MDC petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the result of last month's presidential election invalid, whilst crisis talks between the two parties have currently been suspended until 13 May.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC which lost the widely condemned March poll, has accused President Robert Mugabe of stealing victory. His party has alleged there were large discrepancies in the figures recorded at polling stations and those announced by the government. However, in the interview Mr Biti denied that by agreeing to talk to a government it has labelled "illegitimate," his party had "sold" its principles, saying the MDC had an obligation to break the political impasse in Zimbabwe. "We have not sold out on any principle," he said. "The principle is that the Zanu PF regime is illegitimate and we have to go back to the question of legitimacy, by allowing the people of Zimbabwe to have a free and fair election where they can freely express their political choice."

Mr Biti who is visiting London to drum up international support for his party went on to express his disappointment with Europe, claiming that the international community should be exerting more political pressure on the Zimbabwe Government. "I am disappointed that the pace of international involvement is not consistent with the balance sheet of things that are happening at home," he said. Last month, Commonwealth observers reported that the presidential election in March was marred by a climate of fear and violence against opposition supporters and Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for a year. However Mr Biti argued that this suspension was not enough and called for the international community to impose targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe.