Zimbabwe cholera outbreak kills more than 3,000

Cholera has killed more than 3,000 Zimbabweans and
infected at least 57,000, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday,
making it the deadliest outbreak in Africa in 15 years.

The disease has spread as rival political parties struggle to implement a
power-sharing agreement reached in September and seen as a chance to ease
the humanitarian crisis and save the faltering economy.

Regional leaders decided at a summit on Tuesday that a unity government
should be formed next month. Fears of the cholera spreading in Zimbabwe have
stepped up pressure on rival parties to end the political uncertainty.

WHO figures showed an increase of 57 deaths and 1,579 new infections since
Tuesday. The outbreak has hit the entire country, leading to a high overall
case fatality rate of 5.3 percent.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he agrees to form a government
with President Robert Mugabe although his Movement for Democratic Change
voiced disappointment with the deal reached at the summit, a South African
newspaper reported.

MDC officials are expected to meet on Friday to discuss how to proceed.

"It's a historic decision we will make. I hope the party will be united in
ensuring that we respond to the needs on the ground and the expectations of
Zimbabweans," Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare.

But Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper said MDC Secretary-General Tendai
Biti, considered more hardline than Tsvangirai, had made a "sudden U-turn"
against implementing the deal.

The MDC has said the outcome of the summit fell "far short of our
expectations" but in a statement it denied that there were divisions within
the party.

"There are struggles going on internally, between the pragmatists and the
hawks in terms of their contrasting positions on the power-sharing
arrangement," Zimbabwean political analyst Eldred Masunungure said.

The prospect of a split within the MDC over implementation of the September
pact added to uncertainty over whether a new Zimbabwean leadership would be
united enough to tackle an acute economic crisis.

Mugabe, who has made it clear he would set up a government without the
opposition if need be, said talks were concluded and a new cabinet could now
be formed.

South Africa's Star newspaper quoted Tsvangirai as saying that resolving
outstanding issues over a government was a "work in progress."

"Everyone agrees that -- subject to the clearing of all the issues that are
outstanding -- a coalition government can be formed," he said.

"After all, the whole idea of these negotiations is to form a coalition
government, and I therefore agreed to that principle."

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) said after the
summit in South Africa -- its fifth attempt to secure a deal on forming a
unity government -- it had agreed that Tsvangirai should be sworn in as
prime minister by February 11.

Frank Chikane, the director general in South Africa's presidency, told
diplomats in Pretoria that the establishment of a unity government in
Zimbabwe was meant to be a transitional step that would lay the foundation
for future free elections.

The signing of the pact is seen as an opportunity to prevent a total
economic collapse that would add to the strain on neighboring countries
already hosting millions of Zimbabweans who fled in search of work.