国际英语新闻：Zimbabwe talks delayed because of opposition leader's absence

NAIROBI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean parties' talks on forming a unity government were delayed by a week because the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to attend a summit held in Swaziland Monday, according to reports of agencies.

    Tsvangirai did not attend the meeting of the security committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to seek a breakthrough in Zimbabwe's deadlock over allocation of ministries, because he was denied a passport, agencies reported.

    Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the leader only got emergency travel documents late Sunday, saying this was an "insult" to him.

    Zimbabwe's rival parties signed a landmark power-sharing deal on Sept. 15 aimed to end the country's political impasse, which has worsened the country's economic crisis.

Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza (C) arrives for the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional group in Mbabane October 20, 2008.

Under the deal, the parties should form a cabinet of 31 ministries, of which 15 go to the ZANU-PF led by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 13 to the Movement for Democratic Change led by Tsvangirai (MDC-T), and three to the breakaway wing of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara.

    The parties have been negotiating on which party controls which ministries.

    Their talks reached a deadlock last Friday after four days of negotiations mediated by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

    The discussions stalled on the allocation of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the police, according to Zimbabwe's state-owned The Herald newspaper.

    Mugabe arrived in Swaziland Sunday evening, to be joined by the presidents of Swaziland, Angola and Mozambique, members of the security committee of the SADC.

    Zimbabwe's political impasse came after the elections in March, in which the combined opposition won a majority of seats in parliament and Tsvangirai won a narrowly leading number of votes in the first round of presidential election but not enough to avoid a run-off.

    Mugabe won the presidential run-off held on June 27 as sole candidate. But Tsvangirai, who boycotted the run-off citing political violence, refused to acknowledge Mugabe's victory.

Supporters of Zimbabwe's opposition party Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) chant party slogans at a rally in Masvingo, some 300 km (186 miles) south-east of of the capital Harare, October 19, 2008.