EU sanctions pile pressure on Mugabe

New EU sanctions against Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe increased Western pressure as his party was poised to begin talks with the opposition aimed at ending the country's political stalemate.

The talks are to be held in South Africa, but the timing was unclear.

Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman for South African president Thabo Mbeki, said the talks would start yesterday, but the opposition said they would not begin until today.

Bitter rivals Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on Monday to formal talks about sharing power to end Zimbabwe's crisis, deepened by three months of state-sponsored electoral violence.

"This is just the first step on a journey whose duration and success is dependent on the sincerity and good faith of all parties involved," Mr Tsvangirai said in a statement yesterday.

European Union foreign ministers agreed in Brussels to strengthen sanctions against Mugabe as a means of pressuring him to agree to share power with the opposition - a sign the West plans to keep up the pressure.

British foreign secretary David Miliband said the face-to-face meeting between Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai on Monday - their first in 10 years - was only "a first step" and that EU nations were expecting more proof that Mugabe was willing to sign up to a transitional government with the opposition.

Mr Mbeki persuaded the parties to agree to complete negotiations within two weeks, in a sudden show of urgency apparently heightened by intense international pressure.

The agreement includes a key opposition demand for an end to the political violence that has killed dozens, injured thousands and sent tens of thousands fleeing from their homes.

The breakthrough came after Mr Mbeki agreed on Friday to include representatives of the United Nations and the African Union in his mediation efforts. The opposition accuses Mr Mbeki of being partial to Mugabe.

The agreement has been seen as a victory for the opposition and gives no indication what Mugabe, who has clung to power for 28 years, may be willing to concede.

Observers and analysts say that international pressure and Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis left Mugabe with little choice but to sign the agreement.

Zimbabwe's central bank issued a $100bn note this week in an attempt to deal with the world's worst inflation rate. Official inflation is given at 2.2m%, but independent finance houses say it is nearer 12.5m%.

"When you start to hit these kinds of figures you know the wheels have come off in a big way," said Richard Cornwell, researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.

Without any plans to rescue the economy and facing a situation where he soon might be unable to pay soldiers, Mugabe "had to try and work out a way forward", Mr Cornwell said.

Zimbabwe's myriad problems were also spilling over its borders, with millions of economic and political refugees fleeing to neighbours.

Mugabe faced a crisis of credibility after African election monitors said the June 27 presidential run-off was not free and fair and several African leaders broke ranks to declare they did not recognise him as president of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe is expected to send justice minister Patrick Chinamasa and the minister for social welfare, Nicholas Goche, to the talks.

The chief negotiator for Mr Tsvangirai's party is its secretary-general, Tendai Biti, and he will be assisted by deputy secretary-general Elton Mungoma.

A third, breakaway faction of Mr Tsvangirai's party will be represented by its secretary-general and deputy, Welshman Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwe-Mushonga.