US embassy cable - 03HARARE1892

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001892 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ZI, MDC 
SUBJECT: MDC SECRETARY-GENERAL ON SADC OUTREACH, TALKS, AND 
DAILY NEWS 
 
REF: HARARE 1792 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton, under Sections 1.5(b)(d) 
 
 1.  (C) SUMMARY: MDC Secretary-General Welshman Ncube on 
September 16 reported to Ambassador Sullivan on meetings with 
selected SADC heads of state.  He advised that the bishops 
troika remained active as an informal intermediary between 
MDC and ZANU-PF but that the ruling party continued to stall. 
 Ncube said he planned to join MDC colleagues in a discreet 
negotiation workshop with Harvard Professor Roger Fisher 
September 29 - October 1.  Ncube was critical of The Daily 
News management's strategy in battling the GOZ and concluded 
that, despite legal support for its continued operation, the 
paper may be fighting a losing battle.  END SUMMARY. 
 
SADC Outreach Continues 
----------------------- 
 
2.  (C) In a September 16 meeting in his law office, MDC 
Secretary-General Welshman Ncube confirmed to Ambassador 
 
SIPDIS 
Sullivan Morgan Tsvangirai's report on Ncube's two and a half 
hour meeting on September 4 with Malawian President Muluzi 
(reftel).  He stressed the Malawian leader's recognition of 
economic costs imposed on Malawi by Zimbabwe's crisis and of 
the difficulty of building regional momentum for pressure on 
the GOZ.  Ncube went on to recount details of his meeting 
with Tanzanian President Mkapa.  Unlike Muluzi, Mkapa did not 
have his Foreign Minister present for the meeting.  Mkapa 
"listened more, spoke less" during the meeting, in which 
Ncube and Party Chairman Isaac Matongo essentially repeated 
their message to Muluzi.  They did not begrudge SADC its 
stance on sanctions, but objected to the members' inattention 
to Zimbabwe's real problems.  They urged Mkapa and his SADC 
colleagues to do more to encourage dialogue.  Mkapa pledged 
to consult with SADC colleagues, including Mugabe, further 
based on the MDC presentation.  Ncube advised that they were 
scheduled to meet with Mozambican President Chissano on 
September 18, with a trip to Botswana possibly to follow at 
some point. 
 
Bishops' Initiative Continues 
----------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Turning to the bishops' efforts to rejuvenate 
interparty talks, Ncube advised that the bishops had reported 
to MDC leaders last week on their meeting with ZANU-PF 
Chairman John Nkomo and party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira. 
ZANU-PF interlocutors continued to refuse to offer in writing 
their input for an agenda, and instead requested that the 
bishops obtain from the MDC their answers to five questions: 
(1) Does MDC accept the legitimacy of the last national 
election? (2) Will MDC drop its call for sanctions?  (3) Will 
the MDC become a "national party" free of foreign domination? 
 (4) Will the MDC drop its election petition?  (5) What is 
the view of a government of national unity?  The ZANU-PF 
interlocutors refused the bishops' request that the questions 
be presented in writing.  In response, the MDC leadership 
told the bishops they would not answer the questions in 
advance of talks, but would agree to have the questions 
included an agenda for formal talks. 
 
4.  (C) The bishops called on Nkomo again on September 15 at 
Nkomo's behest.  They conveyed the MDC response to Nkomo, who 
belatedly had reduced the five questions to writing for the 
meeting.  Nkomo told them that he had to consult further with 
ZANU-PF principals and would meet them again on September 22. 
 Ncube concluded that such developments indicated that 
ZANU-PF remained sensitive to public appearances and did not 
want to be seen to scuttle efforts on talks, but that the 
party had yet to show seriousness about getting talks 
underway.  He was aware of a ZANU-PF politburo resolution 
authorizing talks so he was confident that the separate Nkomo 
and Chinamasa channels represented a coordinated effort, not 
independent strands. 
 
Harvard Workshop 
---------------- 
 
5.  (C) Ncube said he intended to join MDC colleagues on at 
an IRI-sponsored negotiating workshop being scheduled for 
September 29 - October 1 at a regional venue to be 
determined.  The workshop would be run by a team headed by 
the group functioning under Harvard Professor Roger Fisher. 
According to Ncube, MDC hoped the workshop would enhance the 
cohesiveness and tactical awareness of the putative MDC 
negotiating team.  He said MDC representatives had conveyed 
background on the local context to Fisher's group in a 45 
minute phone conversation.  Topics covered included inner 
party workings, likely negotiating issues, strategic 
objectives of each side. 
 
The Daily News 
-------------- 
 
6.  (C) Putting on his lawyer's hat, Ncube briefly shared 
observations on The Daily News (TDN) shut-down.  He attacked 
the judgment of TDN management in ignoring repeated legal 
advice to register the paper provisionally even as it 
attacked the registration requirement's constitutionality. 
The paper also seemed unprepared to register even when the 
Supreme Court decision September 10 made registration, on 
which its constitutional claim hinged, imperative.  He noted 
that the reported Supreme Court decision did not state any 
legal consequences of the paper's failure to register other 
than its disqualification from pursuing its constitutional 
claim.  It did not address whether the paper could operate 
and, by its terms, left open the possibility of examining the 
constitutional claim as soon as the paper registered. 
 
7.  (C) Ncube corroborated reports that South Africa's Vice 
President had called Mugabe to express concern on the matter. 
 Mugabe professed to have been kept in the dark on plans to 
raid the paper and implied that the paper would be permitted 
to resume publication.  In any event, existing law supported 
quick resumption of the paper's operation even as its legal 
battles continued, according to Ncube.  Based on unequivocal 
GOZ statements and the police's seizure of publishing 
equipment, however, Ncube concluded that the GOZ intended to 
extinguish the paper's voice forever. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (C) The bishops' activity of late seems to have avoided 
publicity that impeded their earlier efforts.  Of course, 
with the threatened demise of TDN, publicity over potentially 
meaningful political developments here is less likely to be a 
factor in anything.  Indeed, the fate of TDN will speak 
volumes on the ruling party's obsession to stifle dissent 
notwithstanding its innumerable other crises and can be 
expected to cast a pall over prospects for meaningful talks. 
SULLIVAN