Mugabe honours head of elections

The army had been accused of masterminding Mr Mugabe's re-election

President Robert Mugabe has awarded a medal to Zimbabwe's election chief during a third day of talks to resolve the country's political crisis.

He honoured George Chiweshe, head of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC), who has been criticised for his handling of the country's recent polls.

Mr Mugabe had indicated power-sharing negotiations were blocked, but he has also said differences can be overcome.

The talks are expected to resume on Wednesday, the opposition said.

After four hours of talks ended on Tuesday, the Secretary General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai Biti, said: "The talks have not collapsed. It's just a time out."

But MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai left the talks without comment and the BBC's Karen Allen in Johannesburg says confusion surrounds the state of the talks.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has been mediating the talks, and his role is expected to come under scrutiny at a meeting of regional powers this weekend.

'Test of time'

At Gwanzura stadium in Harare to celebrate Defence Forces Day, Mr Mugabe conferred 10 army generals with medals for their role in the struggle against colonial rule.

"Our defence forces have stood the test of time," he told the crowd.

He added that he hoped the "achievements that they have enumerated will continue to grow".

ZEC chairman George Chiweshe oversaw heavily criticised polls

Mr Tsvangirai won the first round of Zimbabwe's presidential election in March, before pulling out of a June run-off because of a campaign of violence against his supporters.

The violence claimed the lives of more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Correspondents say the Joint Operations Command (Joc) - a committee of Mr Mugabe's military chiefs - is believed to have masterminded Mr Mugabe's re-election campaign.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said in a report that the campaign of violence had continued, with ruling Zanu-PF supporters continuing to terrorise villagers in rural areas.

The government was making little effort to dismantle torture camps set up by its supporters, and hundreds of opposition activists were still in hiding, it said.

Zanu-PF has blamed the opposition for post-election violence.

Moving goalposts

At the Armed Forces Day events, Mr Mugabe praised security forces for defending Zimbabwe's "hard-won independence".

"These sterling achievements have overcome numerous concerted efforts from some sections of the international community to destabilise our peace and stability and thus cause confusion in our country," he said.

Tsvangirai is moving goal posts, forcing us to negotiate issues which we had already agreed upon Zanu-PF official

Tuesday's talks between the leaders followed a five-hour meeting in Harare on Monday, after a marathon session the day before that lasted more than 13 hours.

Asked after Monday's round if talks were progressing well, a Zanu-PF official replied: "Not as at present."

"Tsvangirai is moving goal posts, forcing us to negotiate issues which we had already agreed upon," he was quoted as saying.

On Monday, Mr Tsvangirai said he "supposed" the talks were progressing well, but he offered no comment after Tuesday's talks.

Having also won March's parliamentary election, the MDC is believed to be seeking an allocation of ministries that closely mirrors that result.

The agreement being discussed would see Mr Mugabe remain president with Mr Tsvangirai, becoming prime minister, reports say.

The MDC has said it would accept Mr Mugabe in a ceremonial role, but has indicated he should not be able to retain significant executive powers.

South Africa's president has been in Harare since Saturday. Before that, he was mediating negotiations from South Africa.

Mr Mbeki is under pressure to achieve a solid outcome ahead of next week's Southern African Development Community (Sadc) summit.