Africa: Talks in Zimbabwe Falter As Tsvangirai Refuses to Concede Power to Mugabe

Talks to end Zimbabwe's political crisis were bogged down yesterday as Morgan Tsvangirai resisted intense pressure to agree to Robert Mugabe retaining much of his power.

A second day of grueling negotiations broke up last night without agreement and Mugabe gave a downbeat assessment, saying they were not making progress at present but that he hoped differences "will be overcome" when the talks resume today.

Opposition officials say Mugabe has made few real concessions and has rejected Tsvangirai's claim to be the country's legitimate leader because he won the last credible election, held in March.

Tsvangirai agreed to Mugabe remaining in office as a ceremonial president but demanded that political power be shifted to him as an executive prime minister at the head of a coalition cabinet. But the opposition said Mugabe had demanded that the prime minister remain subordinate to the president.

"Zanu-PF is not talking about conceding any real power. They are talking about giving up positions in cabinet but they want to remain in control. These guys aren't serious," the opposition official said.

"The differences revolve around who will have power. They're not giving up anything on that. They entered these negotiations solely to give up cosmetic issues."

A spokesman for the opposition said Tsvangirai came under pressure from South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, who is acting as mediator, to allow Mugabe to keep some degree of real power. But the spokesman said the MDC leader argued that would be a betrayal of the voters.

"There is a lot of pressure on Tsvangirai ... People in the party are telling him that he cannot agree to a deal that does not recognize the people's will and democracy. Mugabe ... should not be allowed to keep power just because he terrorized the population into voting for him.

"The pressure for us is coming from the people. They don't want to see some kind of half-hearted change. If we were to do that we would lose credibility. If Morgan takes something cosmetic from Zanu-PF he will lose the support of the Zimbabwean people."

Hours earlier Mugabe described the talks as "raising the prospect for an all-inclusive government" and said only minor obstacles remained to an agreement. He told the annual commemoration to mark the country's liberation war yesterday that Zimbabwe "is not for sale" and warned the opposition not to be "used by enemies" - usually meant to refer to Britain, which he has accused of destroying Zimbabwe's economy as a punishment for redistributing white-owned farms.