Zimbabwe: Parties set polls for 2012

Zimbabwe’s three governing parties have agreed on a mid 2012 election timetable despite demands by President Mugabe that they must be held this year. President Mugabe has been insisting that elections must be held before the end of the year, despite protests that the political situation was still volatile and that the necessary reforms were yet to be put in place. 'This means that there is no way we can hold elections this year,' the privately owned NewsDay newspaper quoted one of the negotiators as having said.