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| Zimbabwe rivals to hold key talks | Zimbabwe rivals to hold key talks |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are due to hold talks which could be the last chance to salvage a unity deal. | |
| The two men are discussing a power-sharing agreement, stalled since September. The presidents of Mozambique and South Africa will also attend. | |
| Mr Mugabe said on Sunday he would not make any more concessions until a unity government was formed. | Mr Mugabe said on Sunday he would not make any more concessions until a unity government was formed. |
| Mr Tsvangirai says he will not be bulldozed into an agreement. | Mr Tsvangirai says he will not be bulldozed into an agreement. |
| Under September's deal, Mr Tsvangirai is to become prime minister while Mr Mugabe remains as president. | Under September's deal, Mr Tsvangirai is to become prime minister while Mr Mugabe remains as president. |
| But the deal faltered after Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party accused Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF of trying to keep the most powerful ministries - including the one that controls the police - to itself. | |
| The political deadlock has exacerbated the problems facing Zimbabweans, from a cholera epidemic and an economic meltdown to food shortages and the collapse of basic services such as health and education. | The political deadlock has exacerbated the problems facing Zimbabweans, from a cholera epidemic and an economic meltdown to food shortages and the collapse of basic services such as health and education. |
| The MDC has also complained about the abduction of opposition and human rights activists by state security agents. | |
| 'Climb down' | |
| Zimbabwe analyst Knox Chitoyo told the BBC's Network Africa programme that the two sides had lost all trust in each other. | |
| "It's hard to envisage how they find any middle-ground, said Mr Chitoyo, from the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. | |
| "One or other of them is going to have to climb down seriously." | |
| Mr Mugabe told state media that the MDC must "accept" the deal at Monday's talks, "or it's a break". | Mr Mugabe told state media that the MDC must "accept" the deal at Monday's talks, "or it's a break". |
| "If they have any issues they deem outstanding, they can raise them after they come into the inclusive government," he added. | "If they have any issues they deem outstanding, they can raise them after they come into the inclusive government," he added. |
| The MDC will not be bulldozed into an agreement that doesn't reflect the will of the people of this country Morgan Tsvangirai | |
| South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, his predecessor Thabo Mbeki and Mozambican leader Armando Emilio Guebuza will attend the talks to push for a breakthrough. | South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, his predecessor Thabo Mbeki and Mozambican leader Armando Emilio Guebuza will attend the talks to push for a breakthrough. |
| However, Mr Mugabe said he had done everything required under the agreement and the time for talks was over. | However, Mr Mugabe said he had done everything required under the agreement and the time for talks was over. |
| "We have gone past negotiations and whatever concessions were there to be made have already been made," he said in the state-owned Sunday Mail. | |
| "We have done all that SADC [Southern African Development Community] expected us to do and all that remains is fulfilling the agreement by forming an inclusive government." | |
| The clear implication is that if the MDC does not signal agreement now, Mr Mugabe will go ahead and form a government unilaterally, the BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says. | The clear implication is that if the MDC does not signal agreement now, Mr Mugabe will go ahead and form a government unilaterally, the BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says. |
| The MDC was deciding how to proceed with outstanding issues, particularly what it called Zanu-PF's unchanged "mindset and attitude" about a smooth running unity government. | The MDC was deciding how to proceed with outstanding issues, particularly what it called Zanu-PF's unchanged "mindset and attitude" about a smooth running unity government. |
| Spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP news agency: "There has to be finality to the dialogue process - either in failure or in success. We can't continue with dialogue." | Spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP news agency: "There has to be finality to the dialogue process - either in failure or in success. We can't continue with dialogue." |
| Mr Tsvangirai arrived back in Zimbabwe on Saturday after an absence of more than two months. | |
| He told reporters he hoped Monday's talks would find a "lasting solution", but added: | |
| "The MDC will not be bulldozed into an agreement that doesn't reflect the will of the people of this country." | |
| Mr Tsvangirai gained the most votes in elections last March but not enough for outright victory. | |
| He pulled out of a run-off in June against Mr Mugabe, citing a campaign of violence against opposition supporters. | |
| More than 2,000 people have died since August from a cholera outbreak, fuelled by the collapse of the health, water and sanitation systems. |