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In the run-up to Sunday's summit, hosts South Africa had promised to talk tough with the Zimbabwean parties and "force" an agreement.

Many observers interpreted that as a sign that the region's most powerful country was at last going to pressure President Robert Mugabe into making concessions to the opposition.

In fact, as the dust settles on the talks it is clear that the exact opposite was the case.

Despite winning the only contested election in Zimbabwe this year, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was yet again being urged to compromise by southern Africa leaders.

Tomaz Salomao, the head of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which organised the summit, announced that an "above normal" situation meant that the home affairs ministry should be "co-managed" by two ministers, one from President Mugabe's Zanu-PF and one from Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

The joint share of home affairs would go alongside most of Zimbabwe's key ministries in the Zanu-PF portfolio.

Effectively SADC was instructing the MDC to accept Mr Mugabe's definition of power-sharing - that they should take a junior role in his government.

"These regional organs are state to state," David Monyae, a South African analyst, told the BBC. "The idea of opposition groups coming in and getting heard is not something they are comfortable with."

Low turnout

So as midnight passed in the Sandton Convention Centre, Mr Tsvangirai was cast as the obstacle to a settlement. At his press conference he came out fighting.

"It is about equitable power-sharing," he said. "It is about giving the responsibility to the party that won an election and has compromised its position to share a government with a party that lost."

The MDC made it clear that they would not take part in the government on those terms.

In demanding that Zimbabwe's leaders accept their deal, SADC tried to flex its muscles - and the MDC's rejection has left it looking weak.

"The problem with SADC is that went into the summit this weekend without any clear alternatives," Judy Smith-Hohn, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said.

"Those people who were at the summit didn't have time to strategise and that's why they came up with this result."

For a meeting that was billed as "make or break" for the Zimbabwean deal, the turnout was low. Just five of southern Africa's 15 heads of state attended.

Significantly, the president of Botswana, Ian Seretse Khama, was absent. Having criticised President Mugabe and called for fresh elections, it is hard to see how he would have accepted the summit's final verdict.

Mr Mugabe can now claim with some justification that SADC has mandated him to form a government immediately. Over the next few days he may well do so.

This leaves the opposition with an impossible choice. Whether to struggle for power from outside Zimbabwe's government or belatedly battle for a share within.

kutohurewu

Malacañang described yesterday as a “triumph of justice” the execution of three Indonesian extremists responsible for the bombing of a holiday resort in Bali that killed 202 people in 2002.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the closure of the Bali bombing case was a result of cooperation among countries in Southeast Asia and other security allies.

The attack, staged by Jemaah Islamiyah militants, killed more than 160 foreigners, including 88 Australians, and 38 Indonesians.

“It is judicial retribution through legal processes and the judicial system to penalize people and make people answerable for the acts committed,” Dureza said.

Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and ringleader Imam Samudra, 38, were killed with shots to the heart in an orange grove near their prison on Nusakambangan island off southern Java shortly after midnight on Sunday, the Indonesian media reported.

The three reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar (God is great)” as paramilitary police escorted them out of their isolation cells shortly before midnight on Saturday.

The execution triggered calls for revenge from radical supporters.

Dureza, however, downplayed the vengeance calls, saying security forces can handle such threats.

He pointed out that two wanted JI bombers – Dulmatin and Umar Patek – who reportedly are in hiding in Mindanao, could not stage terror attacks due to pressure exerted by Philippine lawmen hunting them.

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A triple bombing in Baghdad has killed more than two dozen people and wounded scores more in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in almost four months.

The Interior Ministry reported at least 30 dead and 70 wounded in the strikes, and the Health Ministry reported at least 28 dead and more than 60 wounded. Iraqis say it was the deadliest attack in the capital city in almost four months.

The U.S. military is reporting lower casualty figures -- eight dead and 48 wounded.

A statement from the office of the top U.N. representative in Iraq called the bombings "detestable" and said they were "repugnant crimes aimed at re-instilling fear, distrust and division among the public just as Iraq prepares itself to assume political normalcy with the upcoming provincial elections."

The casualties in Baghdad occurred when two bombs in parked cars exploded early in the day at Kasrah market in the Adhamiya neighborhood, a ministry official said.

When a crowd gathered around the wrecked cars, a bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated in their midst, the official said.

Abbas Fadhil said he was working in a nearby restaurant that was damaged in the blasts.

"I rushed to the site and saw several girl students trapped in a bus and screaming for help. We took the girls outside the bus and rushed them to the hospitals," he told The Associated Press.

Associated Press Television News video showed the minibus damaged by shrapnel with the floor soaked in blood. Girls' shoes lay scattered amid the wreckage.

Ahmed Riyadh, 54, owner of a nearby grocery, described it as a "vicious attack" that "did not differentiate between Shiites and Sunnis."

Adhamiya is a Sunni neighborhood, but the Kasrah district is predominantly populated by Shiites. As such, the area is controlled by Iraqi security forces and not an Awakening Council.

Awakening councils are mainly made up of former Sunni insurgents who turned against al Qaeda and are credited for being one of the main factors that helped reduce violence in the country.

Among the victims of the Monday morning attack were two police officers, four Iraqi soldiers, five women and a number of students, the ministry official said.

Several soldiers and police personnel were also wounded in the blasts.

On July 28, three female suicide bombers attacked Shiite pilgrims killing at least 32 people and wounding 102 others in the Kadhimiya district in northwestern Baghdad.

Attackers also struck in northern Iraq on Monday. A female suicide bomber killed four people and wounded at least 18 others in Baquba, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq's Interior Ministry said.

The incident in Baquba took place at noon when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a checkpoint manned by local Awakening Council members.

Two council members were among the fatalities. Six other members were wounded.

At least 35 female suicide bombers detonated themselves in 2008. Half of them did so in the Diyala province, where Baquba is located.

cezunusi

Monday, November 10, 2008

Mugabe wins out in Zimbabwe talks

Palace: Bali bombers' execution a triumph of justice

Iraq triple bombings kill dozens

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