Zimbabwe hopes hinge on regional Africa meeting

Despite upbeat talk from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the mediator of the talks, South African President Thabo Mbeki, little progress was made on the key issue: the division of power between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwe crisis is expected to take up much of the discussion when southern African government leaders begin their meeting Saturday.

In a sign of increasing disquiet in the group over Zimbabwe's political dispute, Botswana has threatened to boycott the meeting if Mugabe attends as Zimbabwe's president.

During this week's talks in Zimbabwe, negotiators for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, agreed that Mugabe should remain president and retain control of the army, according to opposition sources. But the opposition insisted that his powers be dramatically curtailed, with Tsvangirai appointing Cabinet appointments and leading the government.

Mugabe wants to appoint the Cabinet and retain government control.

The difference between the two sides relates to Zimbabwe's two recent elections: the opposition says any deal must be based on the March 29 election, seen as relatively free and fair by African and local observers. In that balloting, the ruling party lost control of the parliament and Mugabe won fewer votes for president than Tsvangirai, though the Election Commission found that neither candidate received enough votes to avoid a runoff.

The ruling party bases its claim that Mugabe is the legitimate leader on the June 29 runoff, widely criticized as undemocratic by the West and by three teams of African observers. Mugabe ran as the sole candidate after Tsvangirai withdrew amid intensifying violence against his supporters.

Tsvangirai and other MDC officials were briefly detained Thursday and had their passports confiscated at the airport in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, as they were due to fly to South Africa. The opposition leader had been invited to Johannesburg to address southern African heads of government this evening at the SADC gathering. The passport was later returned, and he is expected to fly early today.