Windhoek — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza told reporters on Sunday he is confident that the political situation in Zimbabwe will soon normalize.

Speaking in Windhoek to the Mozambican reporters who had accompanied him to the investiture of Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Guebuza said he based his optimism on the greater commitment shown recently by the Zimbabwean political parties (the ruling ZANU-PF and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic change, MDC) to work together to find a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis.

He said there was a technical team from SADC (Southern African Development Community) working in Zimbabwe, "and we are confident that the situation will be normalised".

Guebuza was speaking after a brief meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma, who was also attending the Windhoek ceremonies. Zuma is the SADC facilitator for the Zimbabwe crisis, and was in Harare last week in an attempt to remove the obstacles to full implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the leaders of ZANU-PF and the two MDC factions.

As for Madagascar, Guebuza said that measures are underway to oblige Andry Rajoelina, who seized power in a coup d'etat a year ago, to implement the decisions taken by SADC and the African Union - or face more severe international sanctions.

Rajoelina signed up to agreements last year in Maputo and Addis Ababa, with the man he overthrew, Marc Ravalomanana, and two previous heads of state, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, which should have set up a transitional government prior to new elections. But Rajoelina refused to attend the talks in Maputo in December that shared out portfolios in the transitional government, and then tore up the promises he had already made.

Two SADC members - Seychelles and Madagascar - were already pirate targets, he said, and the situation remained worrying despite the anti-pirate patrols of over 200 warships.

The key problem, Salomao added, "is that we're dealing with a state that doesn't exist (i.e. Somalia). What remains is disorder, piracy and lack of control over weaponry".

The only solution, he warned, was to disarm the pirates and collect and destroy their weapons.

By Staff reporter and agencies