JOHANNESBURG, July 28: Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai flew to South Africa on Monday amid claims by his party that talks on ending the country’s political crisis had run into trouble.

Although Tsvangirai’s spokesman said the visit was private, a source in his office said he had come to consult with his team of negotiators.

Meanwhile a spokesman

for South African President Thabo Mbeki, the long-time mediator between Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai’s (MDC), denied any suggestion that the talks were in deadlock a week after both sides signed up to full-scale negotiations.

Tsvangirai spokesman George Sibotshiwe confirmed to journalists that the Movement for Democratic Change leader had flown in from Zimbabwe.

“We arrived this afternoon,” Sibotshiwe said.

“We are here for private business.”—AFP