Zimbabwe crisis talks starts in South Africa

Zimbabwe's ruling party and the opposition MDC began negotiations in neighbouring South Africa on a power-sharing deal that could end the country's political crisis, diplomatic sources said.

President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a deal on Monday that committed the ruling Zanu-PF and two factions of the MDC to two weeks of negotiations with South African mediators.

A diplomatic source close to the talks said negotiations began yesterday at an undisclosed venue in South Africa's capital, Pretoria. The source said neither Mr Mugabe nor Mr Tsvangirai would attend the opening round.

An MDC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "There was convergence among all the parties that the dialogue had to start as soon as the Memorandum of Understanding was done, hence the resumption of that process today."

The government and the opposition had been deadlocked over talks since Mr Mugabe was re-elected unopposed on June 27 in a run-off poll boycotted by Mr Tsvangirai because of violence against his supporters. Mr Mugabe blames the opposition for the bloodshed.

The main goal of the Pretoria talks will be the creation of a government of national unity, though the two sides differ on who should lead it and how long it should stay in power.