Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai today spurned a call from African leaders for talks with President Robert Mugabe on forming a unity government, saying conditions were not yet right.
Mr Tsvangirai, who boycotted a widely criticised June 27th election run-off, said Mr Mugabe must first stop attacks on opposition supporters and demanded that negotiations take place on the basis of a March 29th first round vote, which he won.
"Significantly the conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe are not conducive to negotiations. If dialogue is to be initiated, it is essential that ZANU-PF stops the violence, halts the persecution of MDC leaders and supporters," he told a news conference in Harare.
Mr Tsvangirai said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which defeated Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF in parliamentary election, should be recognised as Zimbabwe's legitimate government.
Mr Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the call from African Union (AU) leaders at a summit yesterday to join talks with the opposition on a joint administration to end the crisis in Zimbabwe, whose economy is ruined.
"The AU resolution is in conformity to what President Mugabe said at his inauguration, when he said we are prepared to talk in order to resolve our problems," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said.
"We are committed to talk, not just with Tsvangirai but to other parties as well."
Mr Tsvangirai said talks would be meaningless unless the African Union sent a permanent envoy to expand mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki, criticised for being too soft in his diplomacy with Mr Mugabe.
Despite the AU support for a power-sharing deal modelled on the one that ended post-election violence in Kenya earlier this year, disagreement over who should lead the government could prove an insurmountable obstacle.
Mr Mugabe (84) was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after election authorities announced he had won about 85 per cent of the vote in a run-off, which was condemned by monitors and much of world opinion as violent and unfair.