"Those negotiations among the Zimbabweans are continuing," Mbeki said in a briefing in Pretoria. The South African leader is overseeing the talks between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Mugabe's officials and the opposition began formal negotiations last week in South Africa in an effort to pave the way for a power-sharing deal that will break the impasse over Mugabe's disputed June 27 re-election.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted the poll, blaming violence that he said had killed 120 of his supporters. Western nations also condemned the poll as violent and not free.

Mbeki and other African leaders have pressed Mugabe and Tsvangirai to negotiate a national unity government, which is seen by the continent as the only way to avert further violence and reverse an economic slide in Zimbabwe.

But there is sharp disagreement between ZANU-PF and the MDC over who should lead such a government and how long it should stay in power.