Power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe’s opposition and negotiators for President Robert Mugabe have broken off, officials said tonight.
The main sticking point was Mugabe’s insistence that he be president of any new government, one said.
Two officials said the chief negotiators for Mugabe – Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche – were flying home.
They were expected to consult Mugabe about their mandate.
Another official, in South Africa, said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had left the country to consult his negotiators.
Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change won most votes in the first round of elections in March, but Tsvangirai pulled out of a June runoff following months of escalating state-sponsored violence.
Mugabe ran alone and declared himself winner, but the election was widely discredited internationally as a sham.
The biggest obstacle to any agreement always was who would lead a new government.
Tsvangirai has said that an agreeable settlement must recognise only his victory in the March elections.
Mugabe, who has survived years of attempts to oust him even by his own party, insists he should head any government.
The agreement to hold power-sharing talks was reached a week ago with increasing violence and some 2,000 supporters in jail.
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Power-sharing talks between Zimbabwe’s opposition and negotiators for President Robert Mugabe have broken off, officials said tonight.
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