Election Agreement Not Yet Finalized

The mountainous kingdom of Lesotho remained in chaos after an opposition leader denied a South African claim that an agreement had been reached on holding new elections. A South African negotiator announced that talks between the ruling party and opposition groups had produced a deal to hold elections in 15 to 18 months. But opposition coalition spokeswoman Mamelo Morrison said that only a “tentative agreement” had been reached to hold elections within the time frame. The talks sought to resolve the turmoil that led to South Africa’s military intervention last week.