The South African president, eager to show some progress in his faltering shuttle diplomacy, flew to Harare on July 5th and met Mr Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a small MDC splinter party.

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The NSP and the Singapore People's Party (SPP), an SDP splinter group, comprise the third camp, which also includes three smaller parties.

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Neither the Congress of the People (COPE), a splinter of the ANC, nor the once formidable Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party seemed sure to survive, as their share of the poll plummeted.

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