Mugabe Negotiators Fly Back to Zimbabwe After Power-sharing Talks

Power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition leaders have broken off, officials said today.

The chief negotiators for President Robert Mugabe are flying home from South Africa today, two anonymous party officials told the AP news agency.

An official in Zimbabwe said the two negotiators - the justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, and social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche - might be going home to consult Mugabe about their mandate. He said it was not clear whether the talks were in recess or had broken down.

The official in Zimbabwe, who also would not be identified due to a media blackout during the talks, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai left Zimbabwe today and was driving to the South African capital, Pretoria, to consult with his negotiators.

The talks between Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe's Zanu-PF began last Thursday, with the two sides discussing terms for the formation of a unity government to end the country's political crisis.

The agenda of the talks, which are scheduled to last two weeks, includes the creation of a new constitution, the restoration of economic stability and growth, sanctions, and the vexed issue of land redistribution.

Tsvangirai 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.

However, the obstacles to an agreement remained formidable, with Mugabe looking to legitimize the ballot that returned him to office, in which he claimed to have won 90% of the valid votes.