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HARARE - Thabo Mbeki, the chief mediator on the crisis in Zimbabwe, held his first talks with President Robert Mugabe on Saturday since his counterpart's re-election but was snubbed by the main opposition leader.
Mbeki, president of South Africa, hoped for swift progress on a negotiated settlement but his optimism was undermined by the failure of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, to attend the talks.
Mbeki had a brief meeting with Mugabe before they were then joined by Arthur Mutambara, head of an MDC splinter group, in a move which will fuel speculation Mugabe is trying to cling to power by driving a wedge between the opposition.
While the African Union has called for a national unity government, Mugabe has said he will only enter into dialogue as long as he is recognised as president after his re-election -- an idea dismissed as farcical by the MDC.
In brief comments to reporters, Mbeki said he hoped to meet with the MDC leader at a later stage but said the talks had still been worthwhile.
"It was the view of the facilitators (mediators) and the Zimbabwean leadership that we need to move with some speed," said Mbeki who is the region's long-time mediator between the Zimbabwean government and opposition.
"We agreed that MDC-Tsvangirai has to be part of the negotiations so we are hoping that the (negotiation) process will take place with them."
Mbeki said he had decided to come to Harare partly as a result of a request from Tsvangirai, who has previously called for the South African leader to be axed as the region's mediator over his perceived bias towards Mugabe.
"We had agreed to the meeting yesterday, essentially to get agreement about broadly the framework the dialogue should follow," he said.
"Unfortunately when I arrived in Harare, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai said they would request that the meeting be postponed but this was after we had arrived."
Mbeki said that Tsvangirai had indicated he wanted to wait until the African Union could bolster the Mbeki-led mediation effort.
Mugabe was inaugurated for a sixth term on June 29, two days on from a run-off election in which he was the only candidate after Tsvangirai withdrew.
The MDC leader won the first round in March but boycotted the run-off after nearly 90 supporters were killed in attacks he blamed on pro-Mugabe thugs.
Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, found himself criticised by other African leaders for staging the poll but escaped serious censure from his peers at an AU summit in Egypt earlier this week.
His Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told reporters Tsvangirai had shown a lack of respect by staying away from the talks.
"We are committed to dialogue with all the two MDC formations," he said.
"But it was utter disrespect for Morgan Tsvangirai to agree last night ... to meet the facilitator here and it is an act of utter disrespect for him not to have turned up."
Mutambara, who has had a tempestuous relationship with Tsvangirai, also criticised the MDC leader for snubbing the meeting.
"For these negotiations, for this political settlement to make sense, all political parties must be involved," he told reporters.
"It is important that any discussions, any political negotiations are all-encompassing including all political parties in the country, and in particular including Morgan Tsvangirai."
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Tsvangirai had not stayed away as "there was no clarity on the context of the meeting" and also because they took place in the official presidential residence.
"We don't want to be seen to be sending conflicting signals and contradictory messages," Chamisa told AFP.
Western governments have all refused to recongise Mugabe's status as head of state since the elections and the EU has said Tsvangirai must lead any national unity administration.
For his part, Tsvnagirai has rejected the idea of national unity government as it would not reflect the will of the people but instead wants a transitional authority which would draw up a fresh constitution ahead of fresh elections.
- AFP /ls
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