By Ralph Gowling
LONDON (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader MorganTsvangirai issued a 24-hour deadline to President Robert Mugabeon Thursday to negotiate or face being shunned as anillegitimate leader responsible for the killing of civilians.
From the Southern African Development Community (SADC), thetop regional body, to former South African President NelsonMandela, African leaders have piled increasing pressure onMugabe to call off a presidential election on Friday.
Mugabe, 84, who trailed Tsvangirai for the presidency in afirst round election in March, has dismissed internationalcondemnation of violence against the opposition and has vowedto extend his 28 years in power.
Tsvangirai, who withdrew from Friday's run-off and hastaken refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare since Sunday, saidin an interview with the Times newspaper the time for talkingto Mugabe would end if he went ahead with the election.
"Negotiations will be over if Mr Mugabe declares himselfthe winner and considers himself the president. How can wenegotiate?" said Tsvangirai, who insists Mugabe must go soZimbabwe can end its political turmoil and economic meltdown.
If Mugabe approached him afterwards, Tsvangirai said he hadthis message: "I made these offers, I made these overtures, Itold you I would negotiate before the elections and not after-- because it's not about elections, it's about transition.
"You disregarded that, you undertook violence against mysupporters, you killed and maimed, you are still killing andmaiming unarmed civilians, the army is still out there.
"How can you call yourself an elected president? You areillegitimate and I will not speak to an illegitimatepresident."
Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission said on Wednesday thatFriday's poll would go ahead.
"PRIME TARGET"
Tsvangirai said it was too early to say when he would leavethe Dutch embassy.
"I am the prime target. I am not going to take chances withmy safety. It's not just about Mr Mugabe, it's about the peopleout there who could take the law into their own hands. There isno rule of law here," said Tsvangirai.
His Movement for Democratic Change says nearly 90 of itssupporters have been killed by militias loyal to Mugabe.
On Wednesday, the SADC's security troika urged thepostponement of Friday's election, saying the re-election ofMugabe could lack legitimacy in the current violent climate.
Regional power South Africa added to the pressure, saying atop negotiator was in Harare mediating talks on optionsincluding postponement of the vote.
The troika, comprising African Union chairman Tanzania,Swaziland and Angola, called at its meeting near the Swazicapital Mbabane for talks between Mugabe's government and theopposition before a new run-off date was set.
It said the group had been briefed by South AfricanPresident Thabo Mbeki, the designated SADC mediator onZimbabwe.
Mbeki has been widely criticised in the past for taking asoft line with Mugabe and for not using South Africa's powerfuleconomic leverage with landlocked Zimbabwe. Kenyan PrimeMinister Raila Odinga called on Wednesday for a new mediator.
The elderly Mandela, revered by many across the world forhis role in ending apartheid in South Africa, rarely speaks onpolitical issues these days but used a speech at a dinner inLondon to condemn a "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
U.S. President George W. Bush said after meeting U.N.Security Council members at the White House that Friday's pollhad no credibility.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama,campaigning to be the first black leader of the United States,said the world must do more on Zimbabwe and singled out SouthAfrica as a country that needed to put more pressure on Mugabe.
"What's happening in Zimbabwe is tragic. This is a countrythat used to be the bread basket of Africa. Mugabe has run theeconomy into the ground. He has perpetrated extraordinaryviolence against his own people," Obama said in Chicago.
Mugabe has presided over a slide into economic chaos,including 80 percent unemployment and inflation estimated byexperts at about 2 million percent. He blames sanctions byformer colonial power Britain and other Western countries.
Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to neighbouring countriesto escape the economic woes of their once prosperous homeland.
(Editing by Ralph Gowling)
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