Tsvangirai rejects AU proposals

Tsvangirai rejects AU proposals

PLAYING TOUGH: Tsvangirai has rejected AU proposals

• Tsvangirai: AU proposals on Zimbabwe won't fly

• Mutambara fires spokesman

• Tsvangirai quits Dutch Embassy

• Tsvangirai indecision exposes his weakness

• MDC faction denounces spokesman for attending Mugabe's inauguration

• Mugabe says election must go ahead

• MDC says free and fair election impossible, but it's participating in by-elections

• Tsvangirai disowns article published in UK paper

• Tsvangirai returns to Dutch embassy

• Text: Tsvangirai's statement on suggested way forward

• Obama talks to Tsvangirai, calls for tough action on Mugabe

• Police chief tells Tsvangirai to 'go home and sleep'

• Tsvangirai's spokesman flees Zimbabwe

• Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch embassy

• Tsvangirai's gamble hinges on regional support

• Text: Tsvangirai's statement announcing pull-out

By Cris Chinaka

ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday rejected talks for a unity government, saying President Robert Mugabe must first stop violence and accept him as the rightful election winner.

At a summit on Tuesday, African Union leaders called for the two sides to negotiate an end to the crisis after Mugabe's re-election in a June 27 ballot that was boycotted by the opposition and dismissed by much of the world as a sham.

Tsvangirai pulled out of the election because of attacks on his supporters. He had won a first round vote on March 29, but not enough to have him declared President.

"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.

Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the call from African leaders for talks on a power-sharing government.

"We are committed to talk, not just with Tsvangirai, but to other parties as well," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said.

Tsvangirai also rejected an African Union decision to keep South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki as its lone mediator in charge of efforts to resolve Zimbabwe's political crisis.

Tsvangirai said the MDC would not participate in talks on forming a governing accord with President Robert Mugabe's government unless an additional mediator was appointed.

"Unless the mediation team is expanded ... and the mediation mechanism is changed, no meaningful progress can be made toward resolving the Zimbabwe crisis," Tsvangirai said at a press conference.
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