tsvangirai

Mr Tsvangirai said he could no longer ask Zimbabweans to cast their vote "when that vote could cost them their lives" .

Since the unity government was set up a year ago, Mr Mugabe has treated Mr Tsvangirai and his party with contempt.

There is at least a chance that the president will step down and that, at last, less fettered power will be handed to Mr Tsvangirai.

By agreeing to talk, Mr Tsvangirai is at least offering Mr Mugabe a gracious if necessarily gradual exit.

Tsvangirai said the election was rigged and his supporters face too much violence for him to keep running.

South African diplomats said they did not know in advance that Mr. Tsvangirai would pull out of the runoff.

Tsvangirai listed four requirements for a transitional program, but top of his list was an end to state sponsored violence.

But he said Tsvangirai would be willing to contest a run-off, if the Commission insists one is required.

Mr Mugabe is clever and malevolent. Mr Tsvangirai is dogged, so far decent, and still by no means sure to prevail. Give him a chance.

Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential runoff election Sunday saying that it was an illegitimate, violent sham.

Mr. Tsvangirai also said the previous strict licensing of local and foreign journalists no longer applies under the power-sharing agreement.

Despite the release, a spokesperson for Mr. Tsvangirai said the party would continue to boycott the coalition government.

So far, Mr Tsvangirai is believed to have been offered a post as a relatively toothless prime minister.

He said therefore that a deal was only possible if it is signed by all three leaders, Mr. Mugabe, Mr. Tsvangirai, and himself.

The neighbours hope foreign governments will rally generously round the Mugabe-Tsvangirai arrangement to help the Zimbabwean people.

The runoff became necessary after the Zimbabwe Election Commission determined Tsvangirai did not get more than 50 percent of the vote.

But he denied that a deal had been done; early in the negotiations, he said there could be no deal without Mr Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai also repeated his belief that thea transitional period and dialogue are the only way forward for Zimbabwe in the current climate.

Tsvangirai insists, however, that the man who has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist for 29 years is no longer the main obstacle to democracy.

Mr. chagry said the continue detentions were a threat to the new Unity government.

Among the outstanding issues is how Tsvangirai would be appointed prime minister, by Mr. Mugabe or by parliament.

Morgan Tsvangirai, prime minister of Zimbabwe, insists that he is now able to joke with his long-time opponent, President Robert Mugabe.

A month after being sworn in Mr Tsvangirai was injured in a car crash in which his wife died.

But officials results said Mr. Tsvangirai did not win outright, and he withdrew from a runoff because of state-sponsored violence.

Up until the last moment, there had been doubts as to whether Mr Tsvangirai would actually agree to enter the unity government.

Up until the last moment, there had been doubts as to whether Mr Tsvangirai would agree to enter the new "unity" government.

Finally, and most satisfyingly , Mr Tsvangirai was able to imply he had the backing of China, the big new power in African matters.

No one knows whether Mr Tsvangirai will be able, on his return, to move freely around the country.

Mr. Tsvangirai said he was going overseas for three weeks to end Zimbabwe's isolation with western nations.

Mr Tsvangirai's decision to get into bed with the despotic Mr Mugabe has been much criticised, not least in his own party.

Tsvangirai also repeated his belief that a transitional period and dialogue are the only way forward for Zimbabwe in the current climate.

The word is that Mr Tsvangirai's team will, among others, get the ministries of finance and home affairs, including the police and prisons.

Anxious to boost Mr Tsvangirai at the expense of Mr Mugabe, foreign leaders have showered him with praise.

He says Tsvangirai expects this appointment to be announced following a meeting Friday between Ping and Mr. Mbeki in Pretoria.

At the same time, Tsvangirai is trying to raise money for basic reconstruction.

But so far Mr Tsvangirai has refused to accept a deal that could leave Mr Mugabe still wielding most of the power.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai also hoped for the early lifting of unfair sanctions on Zimbabwe by certain countries.

If it is agreed upon, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai will become prime minister of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai says he wants no part of a mediation led only by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Last week Mr Tsvangirai asked for the AU and SADC to help mediate a political solution based on the results of the first round.

Tsvangirai's move to the Dutch embassy followed a police raid on his party's headquarters and the arrest of dozens of opposition supporters.

Despite Mr Tsvangirai's withdrawal, government-organised violence against people suspected of supporting him has only intensified.

The wife of Zimbabwe's new prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, was killed when a car in which the couple were travelling was hit by a lorry.

He denounced Morgan Tsvangirai, the party's founder and head of the other faction, as "weak and indecisive" .

But on Sunday Tsvangirai made it plain he wants a broader African involvement in Zimbabwe including the African Union.

Tsvangirai said people want jobs, food and a decent life, and that the current economic chaos was caused by bad government.

President Robert Mugabe launched his re-election campaign on Sunday accusing Tsvangirai of extensive political violence.

So Mr Tsvangirai got little change when it came to winning direct financial support for his power-sharing government.

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has left the hospital a day after a truck hit the car he was in.

Tsvangirai himself was once almost hurled from a 10th-floor window by men thought to be from Zimbabwe's secret service.

Negotiators in South Africa are faced with two amendments, one written by the ministry of justice and one by Mr. Tsvangirai's MDC.

Their two parties continue to fight, but Tsvangirai describes the odd couple's meetings as "cordial . . . not acrimonious" .

Mr Tsvangirai's party may yet reject the deal, as it lets Mr Mugabe control the key ministries.

Mr. Tsvangirai, who has been away from Zimbabwe for a month, says he won the March 29th contest with Mr. Mugabe outright.

And South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, is less prone than his misguided predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, to treat Mr Tsvangirai like dirt.

But the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, resisting pressure from Mr Mbeki, stood his ground and refused to participate.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe thanked for China's precious support of Zimbabwe's struggle for national liberation.

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for greater African involvement in Zimbabwe's crises.

But Mr. Tsvangirai eventually alienated many of his party's members with his perceived highhandedness.

Mr. Tsvangirai raised approximately $115 million during his three-week trip, largely for humanitarian and good governance projects.

The affable Mr Tsvangirai has borne all the sleights and humiliations with astonishing calm.

The talks between Tsvangirai, Mugabe and smaller MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara stalled on Tuesday night.

But it is unlikely to give Mr Tsvangirai the authority he needs to end the brutality and rebuild Zimbabwe's collapsed economy.

Even in the past fortnight, leading human-rights campaigners and people prominent in Mr Tsvangirai's party have been abducted.

Tsvangirai has proved doubters wrong simply by still being here and holding together the fragile compromise.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry confirmed that Morgan Tsvangirai is being sheltered at the country's embassy in Harare.

As leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mr Tsvangirai actually won a general election, against all odds, in March 2008.

Mr. Tsvangirai is due to hold a press conference Friday in Botswana.

The heads of the security forces, which fall under his direct control, have sworn never to accept Mr Tsvangirai as president.

Mr Tsvangirai's latest hope, once again, is to persuade SADC to intervene more forcefully.

If there were free and fair elections there is little doubt that Tsvangirai's MDC would win with a landslide.

Mr Tsvangirai, however, argued that "benchmarks" could ensure a fairer election next year.

Morgan Tsvangirai claims he beat President Robert Mugabe at the polls earlier this month.

Mr. Tsvangirai's aides say they have been told that a new passport is due to be issued to him.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has sought refuge in the Dutch Embassy in Harare.

Mr. Tsvangirai criticized the Zimbabwe Election commission for failling to ensure election laws were followed.

Mr. Mugabe's spokesman called Mr. Tsvangirai's remarks politically motivated.

Tsvangirai is expected to address a regional summit in South Africa this weekend.

Mr. Tsvangirai said Gono 's re - appointment was not only in breach of the political agreement, but violated the country's Reserve Bank Act.

The ten seats his faction has in the 210-member Parliament could hold the balance of power between Mr Mugabe's lot and Mr Tsvangirai's.

Tsvangirai won the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential election in March, but not by a clear majority.

Tsvangirai and Mutambara have, because of this [torture] gained more credibility with people.

Mr Tsvangirai's expectations rose after he met Mr Zuma in Johannesburg last month.

"People here know Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, but not Simba Makoni, " he says.

Mr Tsvangirai, as compensation, became a distinctly second-fiddle prime minister.

China too is hedging its bets between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai.

A power-sharing deal gave the prime minister's job to Mr Tsvangirai.

The MDC would let Mr Mugabe have a ceremonial presidency, with Mr Tsvangirai as executive prime minister.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he will take part in a presidential runoff against the incumbent, Robert Mugabe.

But at this stage Mr Tsvangirai can hope for little more.

But at this stage Mr Tsvangirai can hope for little more.

Some voters who support Mr. Tsvangirai say they are relieved that he has pulled out.

This has been mentioned according to you by Tsvangirai, himself and the government is also talking about an inclusive government.

All these troubles now fall on Mr Tsvangirai's plate.

Mr Mbeki, who mediated talks last year between representatives of Messrs Mugabe and Tsvangirai, was asked to resume his efforts.

That is where Mr Tsvangirai must remain firm.

Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister of Zimbabwe after agreeing to share power with President Robert Mugabe