By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki metZimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Saturday to try to helpend a political crisis, his spokesman said.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)party said its leader Morgan Tsvangirai had declined to meetMbeki, who has tried to mediate between the two sides afterMugabe's disputed re-election on June 27.
Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said: "Yes, thepresident earlier on Saturday met President Mugabe and ArthurMutambara in the context of the mediation process." Mutambaraleads a breakaway faction of the MDC.
Spokesman for the main MDC, Nelson Chamisa, said the partywas "mandated to negotiate under the resolutions of the AfricaUnion and the Southern Africa Development Community ... on thebasis that there is accountability (and) transparency".
"Unfortunately the planned meeting today did not complywith the framework we would have envisaged, a fruitful andbeneficial dialogue. That is why we decided not to engage inthat meeting with President Mbeki," he said.
"If we were meeting Mugabe as head of ZANU-PF no problembut not as head of state because we would have endorsed him butyou know that his position is in dispute."
VOTE RIGGING
Mbeki's trip follows a June 27 runoff presidentialelection, in which Mugabe was the only candidate afterTsvangirai pulled out citing state sponsored violence.
Tsvangirai and his MDC have criticised Mbeki's mediationefforts, accusing him of siding with Mugabe. Mugabe says hesupports Mbeki's role in the mediation.
Mugabe said on Friday the MDC must drop its claim to powerand accept that he was the rightful head of state.
A film secretly taken by a Zimbabwe prison guard andsmuggled out of the country shows rigging that took place forthe June 27 presidential run-off vote, the Guardian newspaperin Britain said on Saturday.
The film taken by Shepherd Yuda using a camera supplied bythe newspaper showed prison staff being told by a war veteranhow to fill in their ballot papers for Robert Mugabe.
(Editing by Phumza Macanda)
