US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was scheduled to hold talks with South Africa's government Friday on regional issues - including the fragile power-sharing deal in neighbouring Zimbabwe, dpa reported. Clinton arrived in South Africa on late Thursday on the second leg of her seven-nation African tour. She arrived from Kenya, where she met with the president of conflict-torn Somalia, and threatened Eritrea with action if it continued to back militants in the Horn of Africa country. She also attended a conference on trade between Africa and the US. In South Africa, the continent's largest economy, she is due to meet Friday with Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and visit former president Nelson Mandela. She will also give a talk to the business community in Johannesburg and tour an HIV/AIDS project that is funded by the US government. On Saturday Clinton said she will meet President Jacob Zuma to discuss how South Africa could use its influence "to mitigate against the negative effects of the continuing presidency of (Zimbabwean) President Mugabe." Mugabe and his longtime rival, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, formed a coalition government in February. The MDC says the peace deal is being undermined by Mugabe's refusal to implement several key tenets of the deal as well as by a campaign of arrests of MDC MPs. Zuma pledged on Monday to intercede with Mugabe to resolve the issues, but the US wants to see stronger action. After visiting South Africa, Clinton will continue her tour in Angola on Sunday. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde are also on her itinerary.
