The death toll from Zimbabwe's worst recorded cholera epidemic has risen to nearly 500, the World Health Organisation said today, in a sign of the rapidly deepening crisis. The spread of cholera, normally a preventable and treatable disease, highlights the collapse in the once relatively prosperous African nation, where President Robert Mugabe and the opposition are squabbling over how to implement a power-sharing agreement. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's party said talks on the unity government would resume in two weeks. Mugabe's chief negotiator, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, made no comment. WHO said most regions of Zimbabwe were reporting infections, with the fatality rate reaching up to 50% in some areas. It reported 484 deaths and 11 735 total infections. "Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe have occurred annually since 1998, but previous epidemics never reached today's proportions. The last large outbreak was in 1992 with 3 000 cases recorded," the WHO said in a report. Zimbabwean rights groups estimate that up to 1 000 people have died from the disease. The water delivery system has broken down in Harare and other cities, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams. Hundreds of Zimbabweans are crossing the South African border each day to seek treatment, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said in a statement. It called on Mugabe's government to declare a national disaster. The European Commission said it would send aid. "I'm shocked at the deteriorating humanitarian crisis," said European development commissioner Louis Michel, urging the government to allow full assistance in from abroad. Zimbabwe has the world's highest modern-day inflation, officially at 231 million percent but estimated to be much worse with prices doubling every 24 hours. Food is short and power cuts are frequent. Army worried
Zimbabweans have grown increasingly angry at the deadlock between Mugabe and Tsvangirai over a power-sharing deal which has delayed hope of rescuing the ruined state. The army said it was worried about unprecedented clashes between soldiers and Zimbabweans yesterday and was investigating the conduct of "undisciplined" soldiers. Dozens of unarmed soldiers were involved in running battles with mobs and riot police in central Harare after seizing cash from vendors and illegal foreign currency traders, heightening fears of growing instability in country. "Those are just indisciplined soldiers. As you know, we've been having deserters, who are giving us problems," Zimbabwe National Army spokesperson Simon Tsatsi told Reuters. "We are equally worried about this development, which is in no way sanctioned by the ZNA." Police were not immediately available for comment. A Western diplomat described the lawlessness as unprecedented and worrying to the government. "We are not in the midst of a collapse of public order. We are not in the midst of a mutiny, but there are more than a few straws in the wind and I think it must be disturbing the regime a bit," the diplomat said. Mugabe's government says the health system and economy are crumbling because of sanctions imposed by Western powers it says are trying to oust him for seizing thousands of white-owned farms and redistributing the land to blacks. His critics say Mugabe, 84 and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has ruined one of Africa's most promising economies through reckless policies and gross mismanagement. The September15 power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai has offered the best hope for ending the crisis, but establishing a unity government has been held up by disputes over ministerial posts. | 
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