SADC TROIKA MEETING POSTPONED INDEFINITELY

UNCLAS LUANDA 000592 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AO SUBJECT: SADC TROIKA MEETING POSTPONED INDEFINITELY REF: A. MOZENA-HARRIS TELCOM 7/30/08 ¶B. MBABANE 000225 ¶C. STATE 079617 ¶1. (SBU) The SADC Troika meeting scheduled for Friday, August 4th has been postponed indefinitely, according to a July 31 public statement issued by President dos Santos' Office of Administrative Support. This statement confirms information given to the Ambassador by the South African Ambassador late on July 30th, which was subsequently conveyed to Washington (reftel A). The Troika meeting was called to discuss possible solutions to the Zimbabwe crisis and included planned consultations with South President Mbeki, President Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangiai. Though no reason for the postponement was publicly given, the officials and the British Embassy told Poloff the postponement was reportedly due to Mbeki and Mugabe's decision not to discuss the issue outside of the negotiations currently underway. MOZENA