Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai seeks region's help in dead-locked power talks

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will ask regional leaders to help resolve the deadlock in power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe's party, an opposition spokesman said on Monday.

A weekend summit of leaders of the Southern African Development Community failed to push Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change and Mugabe's ZANU-PF to agree a deal that could bring an end to Zimbabwe's crippling crisis.

Tsvangirai heads to Botswana on Monday on the first leg of a regional tour expected to last 10 days to ask Southern African leaders for help in resolving obstacles that have emerged in the talks that began nearly one month ago.

"The Zimbabwean issue is far from resolved, and so the continent as a whole has a responsibility to continue to engage with us in finding solutions," Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe said.

"Part of it is actually a process of trying to unlock the deadlocks that have emerged in the negotiations."

Zimbabwe's crisis intensified after Mugabe's unopposed re-election in June in a ballot from which Tsvangirai withdrew because of violence and which was condemned around the world. Regional leaders fear the potential impact of total meltdown.

Officials close to the negotiations have said there is fundamental disagreement on who would have effective control of the government -- the crucial sticking point which has hindered efforts to rescue the country's shattered economy.

MDC officials say Mugabe wants to retain control of government, and chair the cabinet, only allowing Tsvangirai control over some ministries.

Key Western nations, whose support and millions in aid would be crucial for turning around Zimbabwe's ruined economy, have said they will only recognise a government led by Tsvangirai.

Analysts said Tsvangirai's only leverage is the aid package he can unlock.

"Unless Tsvangirai signs on the dotted line the crisis continues, not only simply because the billions of foreign aid does not become available, but also because he does represent a significant majority of the Zimbabwean population," said Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg.

Thirteen heads of state from the SADC regional bloc had hoped the two sides would reach an agreement at the summit held in Johannesburg to end a crisis which has already sent millions of people fleeing out of Zimbabwe.

Power talks: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe yesterday

Zimbabwe's neighbours and other African countries, including Kenya whose own political crisis was only settled after 12 weeks of power-sharing talks, have increasingly put pressure on the Zimbabwe rivals to reach a deal.

A troika of SADC leaders called on Zimbabwe's parties to quickly reach agreement after their failure to do so at the weekend but did not set any deadline. The SADC troika said Zimbabwe's parliament may have to reconvene before a deal is done.

The MDC says convening Zimbabwe's parliament is unlikely because it would require consensus according to a memorandum of understanding signed by the parties.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regional mediator, has been criticised for not being tough with Mugabe, in power since 1980. Mbeki has  said all along that pushing the defiant Zimbabwean leader would only aggravate tensions.

Botswana President Seretse Khama Ian Khama boycotted the summit, a sign of growing regional impatience.