Mugabe bends as African allies step up pressure

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Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe is prepared to negotiate on a government of national unity, he indicated in talks with two African leaders attempting to broker an end to the political crisis yesterday.

Mr Mugabe, who was sworn in to a new six-year term on Sunday despite claims that his election was illegal, nevertheless laid down terms that are considered unacceptable by the opposition.

But his attitude in the talks with South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, provided the first sign that Mr Mugabe may be yielding to the mounting international pressure, with the Commonwealth poised to suspend his country from the organisation today .

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, rebuffed the national unity government proposals, sources in Harare said.

The crisis stemming from Mr Mugabe's victory in the election last week showed signs of deepening when the country's main trade union federation, the ZCTU, called a three-day national strike from tomorrow to protest against harassment of workers by Mr Mugabe's supporters.

The trade unions said they feared a further crackdown by Mr Mugabe, who has brought in laws to curtail public protests.

The two African presidents ended their separate talks with Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai without revealing any details.

But the sources said the two leaders told both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai that the only way to win international support for Zimbabwe's economic recovery now was by forming a government of national unity.

The two leaders offered to broker a meeting between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai to discuss the deadlock caused by the election outcome, but the opposition leader did not commit himself. "Tsvangirai said he would need to consult his national executive first before he can agree to any meeting," said a source.

Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo are part of a troika mandated by the Commonwealth to take action on Zimbabwe in the wake of Mr Mugabe's victory, considered by most observers to have been deeply flawed. Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, the other member of the troika, meets his African counterparts in London today to discuss whether Zimbabwe merits suspension from the 54-nation organisation.

Mr Tsvangirai did, however, express support for a transitional government, calling for a rerun of the presidential election under international supervision. He urged Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo to facilitate a coalition government between the MDC and the ruling Zanu-PF for the purposes of preparing for a new election only.

Mr Tsvangirai also reiterated his view that forming a government of national unity with Mr Mugabe would be tantamount to legitimising his "stolen victory" in the presidential election. The defeated candidate seems to believe that he is negotiating from a position of strength, with the backing of the international community.

But Mr Mugabe left his options open in his meeting with the two African leaders, the sources said. "Mugabe knew beforehand that the government of national unity was not acceptable to the opposition and so he wanted to play the role of a good statesman and then blame the opposition for the failure to achieve such a government," said one ruling party source.

Mr Mugabe insisted that the opposition should recognise his victory, drop its demands for a rerun of the election and stop calling for international sanctions before he invites the MDC to join his government.

Mr Mugabe also said he could consider some of the concerns of the opposition, such as rewriting the Zimbabwean constitution, once the MDC proved its willingness to work together with the ruling party for Zimbabwe's development.

Mr Howard is expected to push for the Commonwealth to suspend Zimbabwe after the Commonwealth observer team declared the elections flawed. But he might not succeed in achieving this if Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo oppose this option.

Britain and the US back the government of national unity proposal and say they will not recognise the election result.