Power-sharing deal for Zimbabwe rejected

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- South African President Thabo Mbeki has promised to return to Zimbabwe before the end of the week for another attempt to broker a power-sharing agreement.

Mbeki’s upcoming effort follows the failure by South African leaders to secure a deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who heads the Movement for Democratic Change, The New Zimbabwean reported Monday.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai can’t agree on what their roles in the government should be, Britain’s Independent newspaper reports

The stalemate is viewed as a personal defeat for Mbeki who just assumed the chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Diplomatic sources say a plan advanced by leaders of SADC for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to share power equally was rejected by both men.

Tsvangirai said Mbeki's proposal would, in effect, make him a “ceremonial prime minister” in a government led by the man he defeated in the first-round presidential election in March.

Tsvangirai is expected to spend the week touring South Africa.