Zimbabwe opposition leader, Mugabe to discuss stalemate resolution

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader will return home this weekend after more than two months out of the country, and plans to meet with Robert Mugabe in an effort to resolve the stalemate over a power-sharing agreement.

Morgan Tsvangirai, speaking at a news conference in South Africa on Thursday, was under no illusions a simple conversation would be enough to persuade Mugabe to cede some of the power he has held for nearly three decades. And Tsvangirai said he would be bringing his own conditions to the meeting, among them a call for the release of supporters and peace activists being tried on what Tsvangirai called “trumped up” charges of plotting to overthrow Mugabe.

In the Zimbabwean capital Thursday, one of the most prominent of those accused sobbed on the stand as she told a judge she had been beaten by unknown men who took her from her home Dec. 3. Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko was held at an undisclosed location until Dec. 23, when she was taken to a jail.

“I was abducted, kidnapped, tortured, assaulted,” she said, pleading with the judge to allow her to see her doctor. Her hearing was to continue Friday.