United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the political agreement reached Thursday in Harare between the Zimbabwe government and the opposition on power-sharing.~

A UN statement says "he hopes that this agreement will pave the way for a durable peace and recovery in the country and contribute to rapid improvement in the welfare and human rights of the people of Zimbabwe who have suffered for long".

The statement says the secretary-general congratulates the parties for reaching agreement and commends the mediator, President Thabo Mbeki, for his tireless efforts to help them reach it.

It concludes that the United Nations has been supporting the mediation process through the role of the Secretary-General's envoy, Haile Menkerios, in the Reference Group.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was due to meet President Robert Mugabe Friday to discuss details of the breakthrough political agreement.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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