'Elders' postpone Zimbabwe visit

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) - A group including former UN chief Kofi Annan and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter postponed a visit to Zimbabwe meant to highlight the country's humanitarian crisis after Zimbabwe government refused to cooperate with the delegation.

Annan said the delegation, which had been set to arrive in Zimbabwe this weekend, needed "no red carpet treatment," but only the government's "permission to help the poor and the desperate."

The trio - which also included rights activist Graca Machel, wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela - wanted to find ways to ease the plight of Zimbabweans, nearly half of whom are in need of emergency food aid. In addition, a cholera epidemic sweeping the country has claimed several lives and spread to neighboring South Africa.

But the state-owned daily newspaper, The Herald, on Thursday said the three - who belong to a group of senior statesmen known as the Elders - were trying to boost the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe.