SOUTH AFRICA: President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has ignored criticism of his Zimbabwe policy and vowed that his country will keep working with its ostracised neighbour to deal with their joint problems.
"Our countries have shared common problems. As they shared the common problems of oppression, they share common problems today," Mr Mbeki said on arrival for talks in Harare.
Both countries are struggling to meet the expectations of their black majorities after winning long nationalist campaigns against white minority rule.
"President Mugabe can assist us to confront the problems we have in South Africa so that we can assist you to solve the problems that face Zimbabwe," Mr Mbeki told a welcoming party mostly of supporters of President Robert Mugabe.
He is the first prominent head of state to visit Zimbabwe since Mr Mugabe angrily withdrew his country from the Commonwealth earlier this month after the group extended sanctions on it.
The withdrawal deepened the international isolation that Zimbabwe was plunged into after Mr Mugabe's 2002 re-election provoked an outcry at home and abroad. Critics accused him of rigging the poll, hounding his opponents and causing Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis.
President Mbeki's policy of quiet diplomacy has so far failed to bring the meaningful dialogue between Mr Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, as demanded by the Commonwealth.
His decision to go to Harare surprised analysts, but even some of his fiercest critics expressed the hope that he would apply more pressure on Mr Mugabe.
"Today's visit to Zimbabwe presents President Mbeki with his last chance to restore his credibility on the matter," South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party said. "President Mbeki must read the riot act to President Mugabe."
Mr Mbeki drew more fire when, in a weekly letter to his ANC party a week ago, he not only defended his position but tacitly endorsed farmland invasions by blacks under Mr Mugabe's drive to end control by whites of most of Zimbabwe's fertile land.