Scenes in Zimbabwe Change Overnight

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Harare witnessed unprecedented scenes after the power-sharing agreement was signed yesterday. In a country where politics were ruled by fear, it was an extraordinary moment.

As a group of President Mugabe's supporters railed against Mr. Tsvangirai outside the Rainbow Towers conference center, Brian Kambangai walked up to them in an opposition T-shirt with its leader's face.

For years, Mr. Kambangai, 25, an unemployed accountant, would have been inviting a beating, or worse. But something fundamental had changed.

"We have signed the agreement, let bygones be bygones," he said, shaking hands with a few of the Zanu-PF crowd. "Let us work for a new Zimbabwe."

Within moments, Mr. Kambangai was being assailed by barked-out comments, as the group tried to persuade him that Western sanctions were responsible for the country's economic suffering, and Mr Tsvangirai was a puppet of the West. "We are going to accept him as a prime minister but we suspect him, we don't trust him," a mechanic, Sinen Samu, 42, said. "We are against those who are backing him, the British."

MDC supporters, while generally ecstatic, tempered their joy with caution. "I'm happy they shook hands but I don't trust Mugabe," said Rhoda Moyo, 49. "He can still try to destroy Tsvangirai."