Mugabe and Tsvangirai Sign Deal to Hold Zimbabwe Power-sharing Talks

The rival claimants to victory in Zimbabwe's widely criticized presidential elections - Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai - have agreed to immediately begin intensive talks aimed at establishing a "new government".

At their first meeting in more than a decade, Zimbabwe's president and the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) today signed a five-page "memorandum of understanding" that envisages a fortnight of secret talks by their representatives dealing with an array of issues from political violence against the opposition to constitutional reform.

Mugabe, who only a few weeks ago ruled out any deal with Tsvangirai, has been forced to give ground under a myriad of pressures, including an imploding economy, described in the memorandum as a "serious matter". "We sit here in order for us to chart a new way, a new way of political interaction," he said.

Mugabe added ominously that negotiators must act without influence from the US or Europe. He has repeatedly accused the opposition of being "puppets" of the west when it has demanded he surrender power.

Tsvangirai, who won the first round of presidential elections in March but pulled out of the run-off last month after a state-orchestrated campaign of killings, torture and abductions against his supporters, said: "Not finding a solution is not an option."

The obstacles to an agreement remain formidable. Mugabe will look to legitimize the ballot that returned him to office, in which he claimed to have won 90% of the valid votes. The MDC says any deal must strip him of power.

South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, oversaw the signing of the agreement at a Harare hotel after Tsvangirai refused to meet Mugabe at the presidential offices because it would infer recognition of his claim to power. Mbeki, who is likely to claim the agreement as a vindication of his mediation by "quiet diplomacy", said all parties wanted a rapid resolution of the political crisis.

"It commits the negotiating parties to an intense program of work to try and finalize the negotiations as quickly as possible," he said. "All the Zimbabwean parties recognize the urgency of the matters they are discussing and all are committed to trying to complete this process as quickly as possible."

Mbeki has previously proposed what amounts to a transitional government with Mugabe as a titular president and real power in the hands of Tsvangirai as an executive prime minister while a coalition draws up a new constitution and holds fresh elections. The MDC says it would live with that so long as Mugabe is stripped of power.

Mugabe says any agreement must recognize his claim to have won last month's presidential election run-off, even though few foreign governments have done so. He wants a government of national unity in which the MDC serves under his leadership.

Although the military-led campaign of violence against the opposition has greatly weakened the MDC on the ground, today's signing is a reflection of the pressures on Mugabe.

The economy is imploding under the weight of hyperinflation, the Zimbabwe dollar loses half its value every day and the country is facing a looming famine after the failure of this year's harvest. The government is struggling to find the cash to pay public employees and, more importantly, soldiers at the end of this month.

Mugabe is also under growing pressure to install the new parliament, which has yet to sit nearly four months after the election in which his Zanu-PF party lost its majority for the first time since independence in 1980.

In recent weeks, the ruling party's violence has targeted opposition MPs in what appears to be a strategy to prevent them from taking their seats by beating them up, forcing them in to hiding or arresting them on trumped-up charges.

The MDC says the seating of the new parliament is a crucial test of Mugabe's intent. It warns that if it is unable to muster a majority because of the violence against its MPs, and Zanu-PF elects the new speaker, then it will boycott parliament.

The South Africans are keen to portray today's signing as a diplomatic coup for Mbeki, and a justification for his insistence that the UN security council rejected the US and UK plan for sanctions against Zimbabwe's ruling elite.

Tsvangirai, who has accused Mbeki of bias toward Mugabe, forced the South African leader to make a humiliating climbdown by including envoys from the African Union and United Nations - Jean Ping and Haile Menkerios - as part of a "reference group" handling the crisis.