Oct 14, 2008, 14:43 GMT
Harare - A month after he clinched a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai, former South African president Thabo Mbeki was back in Zimbabwe Tuesday to broker talks aimed at salvaging the accord.
Mbeki held talks at a city-centre hotel with Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai and MDC splinter faction leader Arthur Mutambara, who is the third party to the September 15 deal.
Four weeks after the historic signing ceremony in Harare, the deadlock between Mugabe and Tsvangirai over the distribution of key ministries threatens to sink the accord.
Under the terms of the agreement which sees Tsvangirai become prime minister of a unity government, Mugabe's Zanu-PF is to get 15 out of 31 ministries, Tsvangirai's MDC 13 and Mutambara's faction three. The deal did not stipulate which party gets what.
Mugabe on Friday unilaterally awarded control of the defence and home affairs ministries, among others, to his Zanu-PF.
These portfolios give him control of the army and the police, both of which he has used against the MDC and its supporters for years.
As the fresh talks got underway, the lower house of parliament sat for the first time to discuss Mugabe's speech to the opening of parliament in August.
Parliament had been expected, as one of its first acts, to pass a constitutional amendment allowing for Tsvangirai to be sworn in as prime minister but the impasse in the talks means his investiture is likely to be delayed for weeks, if not months.
Mbeki is mediating in Zimbabwe on behalf of the Southern African Development Community regional grouping.
Analysts have expressed concerns that he will not bring as much influence to bear on the talks as when he was president of Africa's largest economy and Zimbabwe's closest ally.
Mbeki was ousted as president by his African National Congress party in September.
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