Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Friday ratcheted back an earlier threat not to participate in a regional meeting on the crisis in Zimbabwe, saying party leader Morgan Tsvangirai would attend, despite still lacking a passport.
"Yes, he is attending. But he still doesn't have his passport," MDC spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said, referring to Monday's meeting of a group of leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the 15-nation regional political alliance.
The MDC about-turn followed an appeal by South African President and SADC chairman Kgalema Motlanthe to Tsvangirai to attend the meeting in Harare.
"When you seek a solution to a problem, you talk to those that you disagree with," Motlanthe had urged the MDC.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki, the regional mediator, will report back to the SADC on his failed attempt last week to end the deadlock between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the MDC on the formation of a unity government.
Nearly six weeks after signing a deal to share power, Mugabe, who is also expected to attend the summit, and Tsvangirai are still at loggerheads over the sharing of ministries in a 31-member cabinet.
The MDC accuses Mugabe of trying to retain the most important portfolios for his Zanu-PF party, including the ministries that control the security forces. These have been used for years to brutalize MDC members.
On Monday, Tsvangirai, who is to become prime minister under the deal, boycotted a meeting in Swaziland of SADC's security body that was due to discuss Zimbabwe. The MDC attributed the boycott to the government's ongoing refusal to issue a passport to Tsvangirai.
The party had also threatened to boycott Monday's rescheduled meeting unless Mugabe ended Tsvangirai's "prisoner" status.
The change of heart comes amid fears in some quarters that the MDC was risking being cast as the "spoilers" in the deal.
On at least two occasions this week, the MDC hinted the sharing deal might have to be ditched and fresh presidential elections held.
Tsvangirai took the most votes in the last credible presidential election on March 29, but not enough for an outright victory. Mugabe ran alone in the violent June run-off, but his victory was widely derided as a sham.
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