Mugabe rival 'satisfied' at talks

Mr Tsvangirai has said he hopes talks will lead to a compromise

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he is "fairly satisfied" with power-sharing talks aimed at ending the country's crisis.

"There are, like in any negotiations, sticking points that need to be unravelled," he said.

During a visit to Senegal, he also suggested the two-week deadline for concluding the talks could be flexible.

Earlier, Mr Tsvangirai said he hoped President Robert Mugabe would make an "honourable exit" after the talks.

Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party of stealing Zimbabwe's presidential election.

On Wednesday, South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has led negotiations over Zimbabwe's crisis, said the parties were determined to find a solution within a two-week timeframe.

He [Mr Mugabe] is just as human as every one of us, that he has similar concerns MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai

Talks, which started last week after Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai met for the first time in a decade, were halted on Tuesday.

They are expected to resume at a secret location in South Africa on Sunday, just one day before the two-week deadline expires.

"Two weeks may appear too short, but it is not inflexible and I am sure that the facilitation will adjust as progress moves forward," Mr Tsvangirai said after a meeting with Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade.

'Soft landing'

In an earlier interview with Britain's Channel 4, Mr Tsvangirai said he was not in a position to define what his role or that of Mr Mugabe would be after the end of the talks.

He also spoke about his rare meeting with Mr Mugabe.

"I am sure that there was a common understanding that there is a need to soft land the crisis through a transitional process," he said.

"He is just as human as every one of us, that he has similar concerns, although, of course, I think he is ignorant, and/or chooses to be in a denial stage as far as violence is concerned."

The MDC said on Wednesday that two of its supporters had been killed in Harare last week, allegedly by Zanu-PF supporters, even after an agreement to start talks had been signed.

The party has previously said that more than 120 of its supporters have been killed, some 5,000 abducted and 200,000 forced to flee their homes after being attacked by Zanu-PF militias and security agents - accusations the Zanu-PF rejects.

Mr Tsvangirai pushed Mr Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting on 29 March, but he pulled out of a 27 June run-off election after a wave of deadly attacks against his supporters.