JOHANNESBURG (Thomson Financial) - South African President Thabo Mbeki said Sunday talks to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis will continue, and it 'may be necessary to convene parliament' during that time.
'The negotiations will continue,' Mbeki told reporters after a regional security meeting on Zimbabwe ended on Sunday without a final deal between the country's main political rivals.
Angola's Foreign Minister Joao Miranda, who attended the talks, said earlier that 'the gap between the parties is narrower. Points of disagreement are not so wide.'
But he added that 'the parties still are far from each other though on one point, and that is the executive powers that should go to the president and the prime minister. That is the stumbling block.'
Referring to the meeting's findings, Mbeki told a news conference: 'while negotiations are continuing, it may be necessary to convene parliament to give effect to the will of the people as expressed in the parliamentary elections held on the 29th of March 2008'.
Mbeki, who has been mediating the talks, also warned that a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis 'won't last' unless all of the country's parties agree to it.
'Any solution that is imposed from outside won't last,' Mbeki said.
'It won't last unless it's a common product that is owned by this entire collective of the leadership of Zimbabwe.' tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.