Mugabe says he won fair and square

The MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, has continued to demand a fresh election, whereas Zanu-PF refuses to countenance this.

Commonwealth observers said the election, which was won by President Robert Mugabe, was marred by a climate of fear and violence against opposition supporters.

The talks are taking place under South African and Nigerian mediation. These two countries contributed to the Commonwealth decision to suspend Zimbabwe for a year.

Non negotiable

After the talks, the head of the MDC delegation, Welshman Ncube, said the legitimacy of President Mugabe remained an issue and "in our view that legitimacy flows from a free and fair election".

The Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, urged the MDC to "accept the legitimacy of the government."

The army is determined to thwart disturbances

"We are the government, we are the ruling party," he said. "That position is non-negotiable, non-reversible."

The talks began against a backdrop of rising tension in Zimbabwe.

Last weekend police broke up anti-government demonstrations in Harare and other parts of the country.

Discussions are now due to resume on 13 May.

The agenda will cover "conditions for normal political activity" and the legitimacy of last month's election.

Other topics are expected to include confidence-building measures, politically-motivated violence and Zimbabwe's constitution.