Mugabe briefed on Lesotho

Lesotho is on course to regaining political stability following an attempted coup that rocked the Mountain Kingdom earlier this year, Sadc Chair President Mugabe has been told.

This was said in a closed door briefing given to President Mugabe — who is also the African Union First Deputy Chair — by Sadc-appointed facilitator in the Lesotho crisis, South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, on Thursday.

President Mugabe also met the host of the 2nd Africa-Turkey Summit, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago here, with the two leaders discussing matters affecting the continent as well as the agenda for yesterday's high-level partnership platform.

Presidents Mugabe and Nguema Mbasogo, sources said, agreed to meet later to discuss issues of a bilateral nature.

Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea's relations have been solid since Harare foiled a coup attempt led by British mercenary Simon Mann and his financier Sir Mark Thatcher to overthrow President Nguema Mbasogo in 2004.

Observers say there is great scope for better economic co-operation between Zimbabwe and oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

A source privy to the Lesotho briefing said, "Deputy President Ramaphosa told President Mugabe that the mediation was on course and Lesotho would hold elections as agreed in February next year."

South Africa chairs the regional bloc's Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.

Deputy President Ramaphosa has been to Lesotho eight times since August when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane temporarily fled his country after elements in the military allegedly tried to seize power, apparently working with a political party in their uneasy coalition government.

The mediation has seen the feuding parties agree to the reconvening of parliament in October this year, the dissolution of parliament in December, and the holding of elections by the end of February 2015.

President Mugabe arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday evening for the follow-up summit to the inaugural 2008 Africa-Turkey meeting in Istanbul.

AU chair Mauritius, as well as Algeria, Chad, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa are also in attendance, while 32 other African countries are present here as observers.

The AU declared Turkey a "strategic partner" in 2008 and the 1st Africa-Turkey Summit followed later that same year in Istanbul, with representatives from 49 African countries present.

The 3rd Summit is scheduled for Turkey in 2018.

This year's Summit was themed "A New Model for Partnership for Strengthening of Sustainable Development and Integration of Africa".

The inaugural meeting established the Africa-Turkey Partnership under the principle "African issues require African solutions", and sought to consolidate and grow co-operation in the economic, political and cultural spheres and adopted two documents: the Istanbul Declaration and the Framework for Co-operation.

These spelt out the areas of co-operation between the two parties and an Implementation Plan (2010-2014) for areas of common interest.