Mugabe: Zimbabwe will never be a colony again
Robert Mugabe says he is "confident" a power-sharing deal can be reached
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Monday, 11, Aug 2008 05:50
Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe has warned the country's opposition not to be "used by enemies".
Speaking an event honouring men killed in the liberation of the African country today, Mr Mugabe said: "We will never be a colony again.
"Let's not hand over the country to the enemy"
Earlier, Mr Mugabe said he was "confident" a power-sharing deal with the opposition party could be reached despite talks breaking down over the weekend.
South African president Thabo Mbeki is in Harare to broker talks between the president, opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the head of a smaller opposition faction.
Negotiations broke down on Sunday after 13 hours of talks but are due to resume later today.
"We're not through yet, but we've taken a break," Mr Mugabe said when he left the talks.
Asked what, if any, the sticking point were in the negotiations, Mr Mugabe replied: "There are always sticking points in any dialogue, but we are confident we will overcome".
Zimbabwe has been locked in a political crisis since controversial presidential elections in March.
Mr Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from the two-candidate race due to violence aimed at his supporters, leaving Mr Mugabe to claim victory.
The UK and the US criticised the presidential run-off claiming it was not a free election, but they were unable to pass UN-sponsored sanctions against the southern African country due to Russia and China's vetoes of the move.