Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) moved quickly Tuesday to deny that their talks on a powersharing government in Harare had collapsed.
"Talks can never collapse as long as we have tongues," Mugabe said on leaving a hotel in Harare, where three days of talks with MDC chief Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara ended in apparent deadlock, the dpa reported.
MDC secretary-general and chief negotiator Tendai Biti, on leaving the talks, also reaffirmed: "The talks have not collapsed."
He was speaking after stony-faced Tsvangirai left the discussions, mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, early.