Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday ruled out entering a unity government with President Robert Mugabe and again called on the African Union (AU) to send an envoy to the troubled southern African state. "A government of national unity does not address the problems facing Zimbabwe or acknowledge the will of the Zimbabwean people," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai said reacting to a call by AU leaders Tuesday for the formation of a unity government.
"While the MDC remains committed to negotiations, these must be based on the March 29 results and must move towards a transitional agreement," he said.
Tsvangirai won the first round of voting for president on March 29 over Mugabe, but withdrew from the second round on June 27 over a spate of state-backed militia attacks that killed 90 of his supporters.
As the only contestant in last week's vote Mugabe won a controversial sixth term in office hands down.
The 56-year-old MDC leader said no talks could take place until there was an end to violence, political prisoners were released and pro-Mugabe youth militia disbanded. He also reissued calls for an AU envoy to assist South African President Thabo Mbeki's mediation.
Mbeki is the 14-nation Southern African Development Community's mediator in Zimbabwe. On Tuesday, the AU gave him the green light to continue in the role but the MDC has accused him of bias towards Mugabe.
Tsvangirai also deplored the fact that the resolution on Zimbabwe taken by AU leaders after two days of talks in Egypt did not declare Mugabe's re-election illegitimate.
The unanimous resolution by the heads of state of the 53-state bloc merely said they were "deeply concerned" about the negative reports from African observers about the election, while referring to Mugabe as president.
Earlier, Mbeki said Mugabe was open to talks with the MDC, without specifying what type of talks.
Despite Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba on Tuesday ruling out a Kenya-style unity government and Mugabe storming out of the summit shortly before it closed, Mbeki said, "No, there was no objection."
"He was fully supportive of the cooperation and dialogue between Zimbabwe's political parties to find solutions to the challenges they face," Mbeki told South Africa's SAfm radio.
Mbeki also rejected remarks by the European Union, which has said will not accept a government other than one led by Tsvangirai.
Africa would be making no "prescriptions" about the make-up of the unity government that only Zimbabweans could agree on, he said, despite Botswana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal saying they would refuse to recognize Mugabe's leadership.
On the streets of Harare meanwhile, Zimbabweans were divided on the merits of a unity government.
"My view is that talks can only be done when we have peace," Munyaradzi Shoko, a student journalist in Harare, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "How can we unite when we are at each other's throats?"
"The government of national unity is necessary to instill a fusion of ideas. We have shortages because the politicians are not together - they are busy pulling each other down at our expense," Margaret Chiwetu, a 30-year-old shopowner, said.
"If Mugabe and his cronies managed to steal the election let them have a government. They (Zanu-PF) now want us because they have no legitimacy and no brains to run the country so they want to ride on us," said Conrad Nyashanu, an MDC activist.
