Afghan Taliban hold a meeting. Photo: Deutsche Welle

As the U.S. and its coalition fight an increasingly tough war against the Taliban, there is also new talk of reaching out to elements of the group with the aim of a political settlement.

On Thursday, an international conference in London will explore ways of bringing the Taliban into the government and how to transfer more security responsibility to Afghan forces.

Today the issue was also discussed in Istanbul with the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey.

There is growing hope that an agreement with the Taliban could end the war.

Should the U.S. and its allies start engaging the Taliban in order to iron out a power-sharing agreement?

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The two men are supposed to share power in a new unity government that is facing the world’s highest inflation rate, hunger and a cholera epidemic that has killed 3,400 people.

Briggs Bomba grew up in Zimbabwe and is now with Africa Action, an organization that focuses on shaping U.S. political and economic policies that affect African nations. He joins Martin Savidge to discuss the likelihood that Mugabe will actually share power, possible solutions to the cholera epidemic and the role of other African countries in improving conditions in Zimbabwe.

PBS Wide Angle interviews Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan-born professor of government at Columbia University and an expert on African Studies. Mamdani explains why he believes that the new power-sharing agreement is the best way forward. He also reflects on Mugabe’s three-decade rule, failed land reforms and the subsequent collapse of Zimbabwe’s agricultural system.

Protesters marched at the Harare International Conference Centre, the venue for this week’s regional meeting.

After hours of talks, Zimbabwe’s rival political parties remain at a standstill on a power-sharing deal.

The country’s neighbors — members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) — have now decided to intervene and hold a regional summit to resolve Zimbabwe’s political impasse. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has urged decisive action at the meeting.

As Zimbabwe’s political future hangs in the balance, bloggers from the region voice their thoughts about President Robert Mugabe and the political system.

Blogger “Kwapi” writes at the “NowPublic” Web site that Zimbabwe’s leaders, as well as its complacent citizens, are to blame for a cycle of poltical dysfunction.

Blogger “Opalo” demands an ultimatum, writing from Zimbabwe that the squabbling over cabinet seats ignores the plight of rural citizens in a country whose inflation rate recently reached 231 million percent.

A citizen journalist at “OhMyNews” writes about Mugabe’s current situation and the climate of fear in Zimbabwean politics.

On Oct. 27, 47 protesters from the Restoration of Human Rights group (ROHR) were arrested in Harare, Zimbabwe, where the regional summit will take place.

The “Zimbabwe Republic Police” blog, which monitors police action in Zimbabwe, concludes the protest was peaceful and that the officers involved should themselves be arrested.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party accused the 28-year incumbent Mugabe of lacking sincerity about developing a cooperative government. Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it gained independence from Britain in 1980. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, may boycott the forthcoming summit.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sokwanele under a  Creative Commons license.