Zimbabwe parties deny deal on Mugabe exit

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the Zimbabwean government both strongly denied on Tuesday that they were in talks to arrange the resignation of veteran President Robert Mugabe after Saturday's election.

"There is no discussion and this is just a speculative story," Tsvangirai said in response to media reports that Mugabe was about to step down in a deal with his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told the BBC

: "There is no deal. There is no need for a deal...there are no negotiations whatsoever." The reports followed projections by the ruling ZANU-PF party and an independent monitoring group showing Tsvangirai would beat Mugabe but fall short of the 51 percent needed to avoid a runoff in three weeks. Earlier a U.S. State Department official, referring to the media reports, told reporters:

"I know there were discussions that were going on but we will see what happens and when it happens." Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980 but faced an unprecedented challenge in the elections because of a two-pronged opposition attack and the economic collapse of his once prosperous country, which has reduced much of the population to misery.

Asked about the reports of a deal to allow Mugabe to step down after 28 years in power, Tsvangirai told a news conference: "What deal? Let's not be influenced by speculation."

He added: "There is no way we would enter into any deal before the ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) announces a final result." He said he expected to win an absolute majority in last Saturday's vote and avoid a runoff with Mugabe. A senior Western diplomat in Harare told Reuters the international community was discussing ideas to try to persuade Mugabe to step down.

"But I don't think there is anything firm on the table." "A lot about what is being said is very speculative, based on conjecture. What I know is that there are a number of ideas being floated around in the international community to try to persuade Mugabe to go," he said. "At the most, if there is anything going on right now, it would be very exploratory, people probing for opportunities."

Two ZANU-PF party sources said on Tuesday its projections showed Tsvangirai getting 48.3 percent, against Mugabe's 43 percent, with former finance minister Simba Makoni taking eight percent. Independent election monitors projected a similar outcome. Latest results from the parliamentary election on Saturday showed ZANU-PF with two more seats than the mainstream MDC , with five votes going to a breakaway faction of the opposition. Some 161 seats have now been announced from a total of 210.

Six of Mugabe's ministers have lost their seats. But no presidential results have been announced three days after polls closed, fuelling suspicions that Mugabe is try avoid defeat by rigging. Tsvangirai, like many foreign governments, urged the electoral commission to speed up result announcements. He said the MDC would announce its own tally of the final result on Wednesday. The opposition and international observers said Mugabe rigged the last presidential election in 2002.

But some analysts say the groundswell of discontent over an economy in freefall is too great for him to fix the result this time without risking major unrest. Zimbabweans are suffering the world's highest inflation of more than 100,000 percent, food and fuel shortages, and an HIV/AIDS epidemic that has contributed to a steep decline in life expectancy.