Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and his main political rival have met with former South African leader Thabo Mbeki in a last-ditch bid to save a flagging power-sharing deal.
The talks have been suspended for the night without reaching a resolution but will resume in the morning.
Mr Mbeki brokered the agreement, reached four weeks ago, that called for the creation of a unity government to end months of political turmoil and to rescue the nation from economic ruin.
However, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of the deal after Mugabe last weekend announced he would give his own party the most important posts in cabinet.
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has called on Mr Mbeki to find a way to break the impasse, saying that Mr Mugabe violated the spirit of the deal by giving himself control of the army, police and other security agencies.
Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe made no comments as they entered the building, and four hours later they remained inside with no indication of how their meetings had progressed.
Patrick Chinamasa, the lead negotiator for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, said in the state-run Herald newspaper they remained committed to the talks, but insisted the only post up for discussion was the finance ministry.
‘As far as we are concerned, the only contention is the ministry of finance. We hope the facilitator will come up with fresh ideas,’ he said.
‘The country has been drifting for the past six months. We cannot continue drifting,’ he added.
The talks began as Zimbabwe's parliament resumed sitting today, with Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF in the minority for the first time since independence in 1980.
Parliament will have to consider a constitutional amendment to implement the power-sharing agreement, which allows 84-year-old Mr Mugabe to remain as president while opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai takes the new post of prime minister.
The entire deal has hit the rocks after Mr Mugabe's announcement on the cabinet, which drew sharp condemnation and a threat of fresh sanctions from the European Union.
Mr Tsvangirai's MDC won a majority in parliament in March elections, but the two leaders were forced into a run-off in the presidential race.
Although Mr Tsvangirai came out ahead in the first round, he pulled out of the June run-off, citing political violence that left more than 100 of his supporters dead.
