No Deal: Zimbabwe Power-Sharing Talks Fail

Morgan Tsvangirai, centre, leader of the main opposition party in Zimbabwe is flanked by bodyguards...

Morgan Tsvangirai, centre, leader of the main opposition party in Zimbabwe is flanked by bodyguards upon his arrival at Harare International Airport, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. Tsvangirai said he was still committed participating in talks aimed at ending the Zimbabwean crisis, but vowing that he would not be "bulldozed" into joining a lopsided government of national unity.(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

(AP)

Zimbabwe's president and opposition factions wrangled over power-sharing Monday, but made no progress despite the presence of southern African leaders who pressed for a resolution to the months-long stalemate.

After more than 12 hours of talk produced no agreement, the deadlock was referred to a special summit of the Southern African Development Community to be held next week, Tomaz Salamao, executive secretary of the regional bloc, told reporters.

Salamao said the meeting would be attended by leaders of the group's nations next Monday either in South Africa or Botswana.

The region had hoped Monday's talks would find a solution to the political wrangling and allow Zimbabwe's leaders to focus on ending an economic crisis that has half the country's people in need of food aid.

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South Africa's current president, Kgalema Motlanthe, and former leader, Thabo Mbeki, Mozambique President Armando Guebuza and other regional leaders met all day with Mugabe, main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, head of a smaller opposition faction.

An agreement calling for power-sharing was signed in September but disagreements over allotting Cabinet posts has blocked its implementation.

The latest round of talks broke up around midnight and a disappointed Tsvangirai was one of the first to leave the Rainbow Towers hotel in downtown Harare.

"We came to this meeting so that we would be able to resolve the outstanding issues and conclude the power-sharing agreement. Unfortunately, there has been no progress made," he said.

Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of being "a stumbling block" and said the president's party had "disappointed" Zimbabweans who were hoping for an end to the "roller-coaster" of problems they face.

"This has been one of the darkest days of our lives," he said.

Mugabe, who was among the last leaders to leave the hotel, told reporters that the meeting had not "gone well" and that the parties had "failed to agree" on various proposals.