PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are "poles apart" on key unity government issues, a minister said Monday after Zimbabwe's feuding leaders – meeting for the first time -- failed to break a 10-day deadlock.

"The principals met. Sadly and tragically the stalemate continues," cabinet minister and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

"We are poles apart on fundamental issues. If they (Mugabe and his Zanu PF) are facing west, we are facing east," Chamisa added.

The Information Communication Technology Minister said they were “negotiating with kakistocrats”, and the prognosis for Zimbabwe’s immediate future did not look good.

The three-hour talks were the first between the long-term rivals since Tsvangirai suspended ties with Mugabe's "dishonest and unreliable" camp on October 16, sparking a crisis in the fragile, eight-month partnership.

The yawning gap between the two sides was demonstrated ahead of the encounter, with the Mugabe camp stressing that the talks also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara were a "regular meeting" and Tsvangirai's camp insisting they were anything but.

"This is a regular Monday meeting and they will discuss the issues of the GPA (Global Political Agreement)," which underpins the unity government, Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said.

Tsvangirai spokesman James Maridadi told AFP: "This is not a regular meeting. The meeting will discuss the issue of disengagement and the other outstanding issues related to the Global Political Agreement."

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara entered the unity government after disputed elections left the impoverished country in a stalemate and in danger of serious violence.

Difficulties in implementing their agreement have delayed efforts to secure billions of dollars from Western donors, money that is crucial for Zimbabwe's economic recovery.

At Monday’s meeting, sources said Tsvangirai made a series of demands, the first being that Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana – appointments made by Mugabe without consulting the other two leaders -- should leave their posts immediately.

Tsvangirai also demanded that his party be given its share of governors and ambassadors immediately, and his nominee for Deputy Agriculture Minister Roy Bennett be sworn in immediately.

A senior Zanu PF minister said: “Mugabe told Tsvangirai that what he was demanding is not in black and white in the GPA, and further stated that Zanu PF had fulfilled all that the agreement asked of them.

“Instead, he said Tsvangirai’s party had not taken steps to stop pirate radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from western capitals as the GPA specifically demands. He told Tsvangirai that there was evidence that about US$2 million of the US$73 million given to him by President Obama during his visit to the United States earlier this year had gone to bolster these radio stations.

“Further, he told Tsvangirai that his party continued to deny sanctions on the country or treated them as benign ‘restrictive measures’ or some other such cosmetic terms. The President said campaigning against sanctions was an issue specifically mentioned in the GPA and the MDC had not fulfilled its end of the bargain.”

It appeared the MDC’s strategy is to force a re-run of the presidential election after going through mediation by the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), which the party expects to fail.

"If that (mediation) fails,” Chamisa said, “unfortunately we have to start to prepare for elections because there is no government without the GPA (Global Political Agreement).”

Chamisa later clarified that he was specifically referring to a presidential ballot, but a Zanu PF minister said: “Elections in Zimbabwe have been harmonised, so you can’t choose and pick which one you want. If they want an election, then it’s the whole lot – from councils through MPs to the President.”

Regional leaders are said to lack the appetite for fresh elections in Zimbabwe, specifically South Africa which is apprehensive ahead of the first FIFA World Cup to be held in Africa next year. - Staff Reporter/Reuters/AFP