By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean opposition leader MorganTsvangirai on Wednesday rejected talks on a unity government,saying President Robert Mugabe must first stop violence andaccept him as the rightful election winner.
African Union leaders called at a summit on Tuesday for thetwo sides to negotiate to end the crisis after Mugabe'sre-election in a June 27 ballot that was boycotted by theopposition and dismissed by much of the world as a sham.
Tsvangirai pulled out of the election because of attacks onhis supporters. He had won a first round vote on March 29.
"Significantly the conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe arenot conducive to negotiations. If dialogue is to be initiated,it is essential that ZANU-PF stops the violence, halts thepersecution of MDC leaders and supporters," he told a newsconference in Harare.
Tsvangirai said talks had to be based on recognising onlythe first round vote. He said his Movement for DemocraticChange (MDC) should be the legitimate government after beatingMugabe's ZANU-PF in parallel parliamentary elections.
Mugabe's officials earlier welcomed the call from Africanleaders for talks on a power-sharing government.
"We are committed to talk, not just with Tsvangirai but toother parties as well," Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovutold Reuters.
Despite the AU support for a power-sharing deal modelled onthe one that ended post-election violence in Kenya earlier thisyear, disagreement over who should lead the government couldprove an insurmountable obstacle.
Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sundayafter election authorities announced he had won about 85percent of the vote in a run-off, which was condemned bymonitors and much of world opinion as violent and unfair.
The veteran leader has presided over an economiccatastrophe marked by the world's highest hyperinflation, foodand fuel shortages and 80 percent unemployment. Millions ofZimbabweans have fled to neighbouring countries.
SANCTIONS
Western countries are pushing for U.N. sanctions onZimbabwe's leaders and a draft U.S. resolution called for aU.N. travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe's inner circle. Butsome countries on the Security Council have shown littleappetite for such measures, already imposed by Europe and theUnited States.
According to an annex to the latest version of the draft,obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Mugabe is among 12 people whowould face U.N. sanctions because he is the "Head of Governmentresponsible for activities that seriously undermine democracy,repress human rights and disrespect the rule of law".
Zimbabwean Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono would facesanctions because he is "responsible for funding repressivestate policies", the text says.
Also on the sanctions list is the army's chief commander,General Constantine Chiwenga, who the MDC says coordinatedMugabe's campaign for the election.
Commenting on the sanctions efforts, British foreignminister David Miliband told Channel Four news:
"We're working very hard because I think it's vital thatPresident Mugabe and his retinue of elite people who arekeeping him going feel the pain that is being suffered by therest of Zimbabwe's population."
But some UN powers resisted the push for sanctions.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia dislikedusing sanctions and said the problem should be dealt with bythe African Union and Southern African Development Community.
Officials from China, which like Russia is a permanentveto-wielding council member, have made clear they feel theSecurity Council should not interfere in Zimbabwe and haverepeatedly referred to the issue as "an African problem".
Tsvangirai said talking to Mugabe would be meaninglessunless the African Union sent a permanent envoy to expandmediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki,criticised for being too soft in his diplomacy with Mugabe.
A senior Western diplomat at the United Nations saidWestern powers were pushing for a U.N. senior envoy to beappointed to bolster African efforts to mediate a solution tothe crisis.
(Additional reporting by Nelson Banya in Harare, Mark Johnin Brussels, Louis Charbonneau at the UN and Paul Simao inJohannesburg; writing by Paul Simao and Barry Moody; editing byMichael Georgy)
