20101127
reuters

HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday said he had persuaded Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to start talking again to address the rifts in their power-sharing government.

But he gave no details, and it was unclear whether progress had been made on the substance of their disagreements, many of them concerning Mugabe's refusal to consult with Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on key appointments.

Mugabe has already said there is no need to extend the life of the coalition, which is up for review in February, and looks likely to call elections in mid-2011 without the new constitution that Zimbabwe's Western donors are asking for.

Zuma has been trying to heal the rift between Mugabe and Tsvangirai with little success since coming to office last year.

Emerging after meeting both leaders for over five hours at a Harare hotel, Zuma said Mugabe and Tsvangirai had agreed to resume their weekly meetings, which stopped in October because of a row over appointments.

"We've met and we've had very good and very successful consultations," Zuma said, flanked by Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

"There had been a breakdown in communication within the leadership of the government here, which we discussed and resolved. Meetings are going to resume. All the issues that need to be discussed and resolved will certainly find a platform."