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Zimbabwe Church Leaders Craft 'Vision' Document Aimed at Mugabe


Zimbabwean church leaders who have been trying to promote dialogue with President Robert Mugabe said Tuesday that they intend this week to hammer out the final draft of a "national vision" document on the crisis in the Southern African country.

Entitled ‘’The Zimbabwe We Want,” the document summarizes consultations with civil society and opposition parties on how the longrunning crisis could be resolved.

The effort to bring about reconciliation involves the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and the Catholic Bishops Conference.

A spokesman for the church leaders, Father Frederick Chirombo, said that following a review the document will be presented to President Robert Mugabe.

Chirombo told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the document focuses on the constitution, the economy and the land issue.

Earlier efforts by the Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship to broach a dialogue with the president drew criticism from other civil society elements which said the church leaders were playing into the hands of Mr. Mugabe and the ruling party.

The church leaders will be discussing the final shape of the report on Thursday, when the Christian Alliance, a church humanitarian group that has assumed a key role in the civil and political opposition, will be holding a key meeting on building unity.

Political analyst Farayi Maguwu said that Zimbabwean religious leaders are reducing their potential effectiveness by pursuing two separate if parallel processes.

More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...

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