ZIMBABWE LEADERS PROCLAIM NEW ERA!

By Adam Mynott - BBC News, Johannesburg.

The historic moment when Zimbabwe's political rivals marked their agreement to work together for the future of their country was delayed by an hour.
But cheers greeted President Robert Mugabe and the new prime minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, as they climbed onto the stage of the Harare International Conference in the capital to sign the 55-page document putting their power-sharing deal into effect.
They did so under the watchful eyes of the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, who had brought the two men together over a protracted and often precarious two-month period of negotiations.
The signing ceremony took place before a large crowd of invited guests, including heads of state and leaders of other African countries, including the chairperson of the African Union and Tanzanian President, Jakaya Kikwete.

The full details and content of the deal have not been confirmed but they propose a 50-50 division of power, with President Mugabe remaining head of state, head of the cabinet and head of the armed services.
Morgan Tsvangirai will preside over the council of ministers and will be in charge of the police. The most arresting moment came when the two men, President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai - for so long sworn enemies - shook hands briefly and exchanged a few words to the sound of wild cheers coming from hundreds of people in the hall.

Diagram of Zimbabwe's power-sharing deal

After the ceremony the new Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who leads a small breakaway faction of the MDC, made a speech calling for a new future for Zimbabwe.
He was followed by Morgan Tsvangirai, who said - borrowing a phrase from Mr Mugabe's comments on reconciliation at the time of Zimbabwe's independence - that "it is time to turn our swords into plough-shares".
He called on all the people of Zimbabwe to put division and hatred into the past and he urged everyone to work together.
The priority, he said, was to "stop the devastating food shortages affecting the country".
He also turned to the international community to help rebuild the country.
"We need electricity, water, petrol for our vehicles," he said, "and we need to access our cash from bank."
It is the crippled Zimbabwean economy, with official inflation running at more than 11,000,000% annually, which poses the biggest threat to the country's future stability.
Independence struggle
When President Mugabe came to the microphone, there were cheers, but also some boos from the crowd.

He called the event "historic", and reminded his audience that Zimbabwe has emerged from a liberation struggle.
"We decided it was not right to bear the yoke of colonialism any longer", he said.
He then accused Britain of meddling in Zimbabwe's affairs, saying the former colonial masters had interfered calling for "regime change... and imposing sanctions".
He congratulated and thanked the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for helping to solve the difficulties that Zimbabwe has faced.
President Mugabe said his party, Zanu-PF, was committed to the power-sharing deal, but his speech was marked by repeated references to Zimbabwe's past, and not about the challenges that the country faces in the future.
The eyes of the Zimbabwe's neighbours, the continent of Africa and the whole world will be fixed now on seeing whether this historic deal does indeed result in a genuine sharing out of executive authority.

BBC NEWS REPORT.