Zimbabwe to resume crisis talks

Mr Mbeki said the crisis talks were a 'work in progress'

South African President Thabo Mbeki has said crisis talks between Zimbabwe's government and opposition will resume on Sunday.

He was speaking after meeting Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who has said he wants the talks to succeed.

Mr Mbeki's visit followed the halting last week of crisis talks between the ruling and opposition parties.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's central bank has said it will revalue its currency on 1 August to fight hyperinflation.

Compromise 'hard'

After an hour-long meeting with Mr Mugabe, Mr Mbeki, who has been mediating in the crisis talks, told reporters that they were "work in progress".

"The negotiators are working hard and have committed themselves to the time-frame. They will resume on Sunday," he said.

The negotiations began last week after Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai met for the first time in a decade.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused Mr Mugabe of stealing the election earlier this year.

We would like to see the speedy conclusion of the talks... so that we can focus in the future our attention around our economy President Robert Mugabe

Mr Tsvangirai pushed Mr Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting on 29 March but he pulled out of a 27 June run-off election after a wave of deadly attacks against his supporters.

Mr Mugabe has said he wants the talks to succeed, but warned that "sometimes compromise is difficult".

The BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says it has emerged that President Mbeki held a meeting in the South African capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday with the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mr Mbeki, the lead mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis, has said the two sides are determined to reach an agreement within a two-week time-frame at the talks in a secret location near Pretoria.

But opposition sources said the talks had reached deadlock.

Emergency threat

Meanwhile, the governor of Zimbabwe's central bank, Gideon Gono, has announced than 10 zeros will be lopped off the Zimbabwe dollar, making 10bn dollars equal to one dollar.

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The BBC's Andrew Harding goes food shopping in Harare.

Only last week, the government introduced the Z$100bn note.

After the currency announcement, Mr Mugabe warned the country's businessmen in a televised address to stop profiteering or face "emergency measures".

"If you drive us more than you have done we will impose emergency measures, and we don't want to place our country in a situation of emergency rules, they can be tough rules you know," Reuters news agency reports him as saying.

Mr Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's economic problems on white businessmen and Western sanctions, rather than his own policies.

The latest currency announcement is another desperate attempt by Mr Gono to stabilise Zimbabwe's collapsing economy, our correspondent says.

ZIMBABWE TALKS What MDC wants: Mugabe to step down "Transitional authority" to organise new elections What Zanu-PF wants: Mugabe to be accepted as president MDC to take a few minor ministries International community to drop sanctions and help kick-start economy Full text of the Memorandum of Understanding[39KB] Bitter hope in Harare

"The Zimbabwe dollar will be redenominated by a factor of one to 10, which means we are removing 10 zeros from our monetary value. Ten billion dollars today will be reduced to Z$1... effective from 1 August," Mr Gono said in a television broadcast.

The high rate constrained the operations of the country's computer systems, with computers, calculators and banks' cash machines not able to handle transactions in billions and trillions of dollars, he added.

The new Z$100bn (under $2, £1) note introduced last week is not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

Inflation is officially running at more than 2,000,000%, but many analysts believe the true inflation figure is at least 9,000,000%.

A BBC reporter in Harare said that on the day he recently went shopping, a tray of 24 eggs went up from Z$375bn to Z$600bn.

So far this year, Zimbabwe has been forced to print Z$100m, Z$250m and Z$500m notes in rapid succession, now mostly worthless.