Zimbabwe: Talks initiative dead

Renewed efforts to bring Zimbabwe's two feuding main political parties back to the negotiating table have hit a brick wall with Zanu PF showing signs of ill-feeling over the sincerity and impartiality of the arbitrators. Impeccable Zanu PF sources confirmed that there was a whiff of suspicion within their ranks, with some senior party officials, who are jealously guarding their positions, alleging that some of the church leaders pushing for the negotiations were sympathetic to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The church leaders from various denominations have been at the forefront of trying to bring the MDC and the ruling Zanu PF to the negotiating table which they abandoned almost two years ago.