Tsvangirai ready to negotiate

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Monday he was ready to negotiate with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party after his withdrawal from a presidential election, but only if political violence stopped.

Amid mounting concern from within and outside Africa over the violence, in which Tsvangirai says around 90 of his supporters have died, the MDC leader told South Africa's Radio 702:

"We are prepared to negotiate with ZANU-PF but of course it is important that certain principles are accepted before the negotiations take place. One of the preconditions is that this violence against the people must be stopped."

Tsvangirai on Sunday pulled out of the June 27 poll, saying supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change would risk their lives by voting because of brutal attacks by supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

Mugabe, 84, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has vowed never to hand over to the opposition, branding them puppets of the West. He denies his supporters are responsible for the violence.

The MDC has appealed to the international community, particularly the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) to put pressure on Mugabe to resolve an economic and political crisis which has sent millions of refugees fleeing into neighbouring countries.

Reaction was swift from Jean Ping, the AU's top diplomat.

"This development and the increasing acts of violence in the run-up to the second round of the presidential election, are a matter of grave concern to the Commission of the AU," he said in a statement.

Ping said he had started consultations with AU chairman Jakaya Kikwete, the president of Tanzania, with SADC and with that body's designated mediator in the crisis, South African President Thabo Mbeki, to see what could be done.

Ping, the commission chairman, said Zimbabwe was at a critical point and called for restraint and an end to violence.

Angola's foreign ministry said on Monday SADC foreign ministers were meeting in Luanda to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis and might issue a statement later in the day.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the current SADC chairman, said on Sunday the run-off must be postponed "to avert a catastrophe in this region."