Mugabe 'new era' claims dismissed

Mr Tsvangirai has threatened to boycott next year's polls

Zimbabwe's main opposition group has dismissed President Robert Mugabe's statement that political talks were heralding the "dawn of a new era".

Morgan Tsvangirai's faction of the Movement for Democratic Change says Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF is using violence and denying food aid to MDC supporters.

Talks between Zanu-PF and the Movement MDC are intended to prepare for free and fair elections next year.

Mr Tsvangirai said Zanu-PF was not sincere or committed to dialogue.

The fact that there may be names of some dead people does not mean that the voters' roll is not a credible register George Chiweshe Zimbabwe Electoral Commission

He called the last talks on Sunday "paper discussions", saying they had achieved nothing.

His faction of the divided MDC says violence is continuing unabated in Zimbabwe and that state-owned media were conducting a media blackout against the opposition.

Boycott threat

The two factions of the MDC have united for the purpose of the South Africa-mediated talks.

Details of the talks have been kept secret.

Robert Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence

Mr Tsvangirai has threatened to boycott presidential, parliamentary and local elections in March 2008 if his party believes Zanu-PF will rig them.

The MDC has criticised preparations for the elections as a shambles, saying the national voters' registration must be overhauled to remove the names of dead people.

But Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman George Chiweshe said on Thursday that work had started on drawing up constituency boundaries.

"The fact that there may be names of some dead people does not mean that the voters' roll is not a credible register, as people die every day but the official evidence must be provided to correct that," he said.

The party MDC constitutional changes agreed with Mr Mugabe's government enacted and political violence against opposition supporters curbed before next year's elections.

On Tuesday, Mr Mugabe said in his state of the nation address that the two parties' dialogue represented constructive engagement across the political divide and a narrowing of differences.

He said the talks represented the "dawn of a new era".