US embassy cable - 03HARARE1977

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, ZI 
SUBJECT: BISHOPS PROPOSE PARTIES' RETREAT 
 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton, under Section 1.5(b), (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Bishop Trevor Manhanga on September 26 offered the 
Embassy an update on the so-called bishops' initiative. 
According to Manhanga, the bishops continued to meet 
personally with representatives from each party at least once 
a week.  They remained especially encouraged by ZANU-PF's 
posture, noting that party principals had met despite 
potential schedule conflicts entailed by Vice President 
Muzenda's funeral.  According to Manhanga, the MDC had 
followed the bishops' counsel to have a substantial presence 
at the Muzenda funeral, a gesture of good will that had been 
reciprocated by Mugabe's public recognition of their 
presence.  Manhanga maintained that Mugabe's implicit 
concession in his eulogy that he had erred "as an older 
brother" was a positive signal for potential negotiations. 
He noted that ZANU-PF elements' loud applause for Mugabe's 
"outreach" to the MDC during the eulogy evidenced popular 
support for the talks and also bode well. 
 
2.  (C) Manhanga asserted that, encouraged by the parties' 
growing candor and good will, the bishops had proposed at 
their most recent meetings with each party that the time was 
ripe for a face-to-face pre-talks confidential retreat.  He 
said the parties would caucus on the issue and advise the 
bishops during the week of September 29 of their receptivity 
to such a meeting.  Manhanga confided that in the meeting 
with ZANU-PF, Party Spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira had been 
quite enthusiastic about the idea while Party Chairman John 
Nkomo was more guarded.  As for getting beyond a retreat and 
to the table, Manhanga said that the key lay in finessing a 
face-saving resolution to ZANU-PF demands for MDC public 
statements on Mugabe's legitimacy and urging an end to 
"international sanctions." 
 
3.  (C) Manhanga advised that the bishops had covered the 
international waterfront in pushing their initiative, having 
met with representatives from Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, 
and Australia, among others.  Manhanga said that the bishops 
understood that the USG was not in a position to be offering 
carrots or benchmarked timetables for a normalizing of 
relations with Zimbabwe.  Nonetheless, he urged that the USG 
and other western donors be prepared to be prepared to move 
quickly with confidence-building measures should the parties 
end their impasse and come to the table.  He said that some 
support for aspects of land reform could be potentially 
decisive in moving ZANU-PF forward in any negotiating 
process. 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT: ZANU-PF may yet be prepared make a gesture 
toward starting talks in hopes of getting the government an 
invitation to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 
(CHOGM), notwithstanding international outcry over The Daily 
News closure.  The party has yet to project seriousness about 
negotiations beyond appearing to consider the mere 
possibility of their commencement, however. 
SULLIVAN