By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's ruling party and theopposition MDC prepared to begin negotiations on Tuesday on apower-sharing deal that could end the country's politicalcrisis, the opposition and diplomatic sources said.
President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Changeleader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a deal on Monday that committedthe ruling ZANU-PF and two factions of the MDC to two weeks ofnegotiations with South African mediators.
"There was convergence among all the parties that thedialogue had to start as soon as the MOU (Memorandum ofUnderstanding) was done, hence the resumption of that processtoday," an MDC official said on condition of anonymity.
A diplomatic source close to the talks said they wouldstart on Tuesday in South Africa's capital, Pretoria. Thesource said neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai would attend theopening round.
The government and the opposition had been deadlocked overtalks since Mugabe was re-elected unopposed on June 27 in arun-off poll boycotted by Tsvangirai because of violenceagainst his supporters. Mugabe blames the opposition for thebloodshed.
The main goal of the Pretoria talks will be the creation ofa government of national unity, though the two sides differ onwho should lead it and how long it should stay in power.
But analysts said the two week deadline may be difficult tokeep to.
"Unfortunately, I am very sceptical. I think it isambitious to expect a solution in two weeks. Yesterday's eventis a good first step, but the two parties are so polarised itwill take nothing short of a miracle to achieve that," saidJohn Makumbe, political science lecturer at the University ofZimbabwe.
Pressure on the two sides to share power came from theAfrican Union and the Southern African Development Community,concerned by the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe thathas flooded neighbouring states with millions of refugees.
The European Union on Tuesday increased pressure on Mugabe,saying it had agreed additional sanctions on Zimbabwe.
BREAKTHROUGH
An EU official said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers inBrussels that 37 people and four companies would be added tothe EU's Zimbabwe sanctions list.
The breakthrough between Zimbabwe's rivals appeared tofollow South African President Thabo Mbeki's agreement latelast week to expand the mediation process to include theAfrican Union, the United Nations and other SADC officials.
Mbeki has been mediating in the crisis for more than a yearand had been increasingly criticised, especially by the MDC,which accused him of taking too soft a line with Mugabe.
In Harare, many Zimbabweans cautiously welcomed theagreement and a handshake between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, attheir first meeting in a decade.
Newspaper vendors enjoyed brisk business as people throngednewsstands to buy the only daily newspaper available, thegovernment-controlled Herald which had a picture of Mugabeshaking hands with Tsvangirai on its front page.
"People have been lining up to buy the paper, or at leastlook at the picture. Many cannot believe that the old man andTsvangirai actually sat together, let alone held hands," saidTapera Guyo, a newspaper vendor.
Tsvangirai had previously refused to enter formal talksunless government militias stopped violence he says has killed120 of his supporters. He also wanted Mugabe to recognise his(Tsvangirai's) victory in the first round of the presidentialpoll on March 29.
The negotiations are expected to be tense and possiblyacrimonious. The MDC has accused Mugabe and ZANU-PF ofviolating human rights and rigging elections.
Tsvangirai has been arrested at least half a dozen times bysecurity forces in the past two years, and he was beaten alongwith dozens of supporters in an aborted anti-government protestlast year.
"This is just the first step on a journey whose durationand success is dependent on the sincerity and good faith of allparties involved," Tsvangirai said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mugabe, 84, has dismissed the MDC as a puppet of the Westand vowed never to let it take power. The president, in powersince independence from Britain in 1980, has also insisted thatthe opposition accept his unmopposed victory last month.
Zimbabwe's economic collapse under Mugabe's rule hasplunged the once prosperous country into inflation of at least2 million percent, crippling food and fuel shortages and 80percent unemployment.
(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Brussels;Writing by Paul Simao and Marius Bosch; Editing by Robert Hart)
