Africa

Mugabe talks with churches
THREE LEADING Zimbabwean churchmen have met President Robert Mugabe in an effort to ease tensions between the government and the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
President Mugabe received Patrick Mutume of the Catholic bishops' conference, Bishop Sebastian Bakare of the Zimbabwe Christian Council, and Bishop Trevor Manhanga of the Evangelical Fellowship on Friday, July 25 to discuss whether the church leaders can mediate in the crisis.
All three churchmen have protested recently about the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
The ruling Zanu PF party's national chairman John Nkomo told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that the meeting went extremely well.