UPDATE ON SECRET CONSTITUTIONAL TALKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001891

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPT. FOR AF/KANSTEINER, AF/S/DELISI
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR JFRAZER
PRETORIA FOR AMBASSADOR HUME

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2013
TAGS: PGOV PREL ZI
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON SECRET CONSTITUTIONAL TALKS

REF: HARARE 1719

Classified By: Political Officer Win Dayton under Sections 1.5(b)(d)


1. CONFIDENTIAL/NOFORN -- PLEASE DO NOT DIVULGE TO OFFICIALS
OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.


2. (C) In a meeting in his law office September 16, MDC
Secretary General Welshman Ncube told Ambassador Sullivan

SIPDIS
that he was scheduled to meet with Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa September 21-24, after Chinamasa returned from WTO
meetings in Cancun and before he left town again on the 25th.
He said they intended to go over the latest draft of the
Constitution, transitional issues, and confidence-building
measures (combatting violence, reining in militias, etc.).
Ncube's comments at the meeting on the MDC's SADC outreach,
the bishops' intitiative, The Daily News, and a Harvard
negotiating workshop are reported septel.


3. (C) COMMENT: The interparty constitutional talks remain
largely outside the public eye, although reports of the talks
are growing in circulation among selected interested parties.
Nonetheless, confidentiality will remain a sine qua non of
the talk's chances for any success as the prinicipals
continue to engage constructively on significant issues. As
related reftel, the fragile discussions have come far but
have a long way to go, and may be entering a particularly
precarious phase as the parties begin to delve into more
controversial issues. In particular, "confidence-building
measures" would appear to depart from a strictly legal agenda
and drift into potentially more parlous political waters
heretofore carefully avoided.
SULLIVAN