Mugabe and Tsvangirai 'upbeat' after talks

Talks aimed at forming a government of national unity to end Zimbabwe's long political crisis resumed today amid mounting optimism.

Both president Robert Mugabe and the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai were upbeat when they emerged last night from negotiations mediated by South African president Thabo Mbeki.

The official Herald newspaper reported today that there was optimism about reaching a solution to the key stumbling bloc - who should have the top position in government.

Mr Tsvangirai has insisted on being head of government and chairing Cabinet meetings, with Mr Mugabe in the largely ceremonial position of head of state.

However, Mr Mugabe is unwilling to surrender much of the power he has wielded since independence from Britain in 1980.

"We are still going to talk. There is progress and lack of it. There are principally one or two areas that need to be finalised," Mr Mugabe said as he left a Harare hotel last night after four hours of negotiations.

Mr Tsvangirai said: "There's been a positive development."

The Herald, a government mouthpiece, said Mr Mugabe had told Mr Tsvangirai that he would go ahead and form a new government by the end of the week regardless of the outcome in the talks.

Mr Tsvangirai's party won the most votes in legislative and presidential elections in March. Mr Mugabe subsequently was the only candidate in a presidential run-off that followed an onslaught of state-sponsored violence against Mr Tsvangirai's supporters and was widely denounced as a sham.

Since then Mr Mugabe, 84, has faced pressure to reach a deal with the opposition as the only way of breaking the political deadlock and halting the economic collapse.