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Mugabe spokesman George Charamba was defiant at a press conference in Sharm el Sheik as he addressed critics of Mugabe's decision to proceed with a presidential runoff election after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai had dropped out because of political violence.

"They can go hang a thousand times, they have no basis, they have no claim on Zimbabwe politics at all", The Washington Post reported him as saying.

The comments came amid speculation that African leaders would try to engineer a power-sharing deal in the wake of Zimbabwe's disputed presidential election.

The South African newspaper Business Day reported South African President Thabo Mbeki is negotiating with Mugabe to allow members of the opposition Movement For Democratic Change party into the government.

Business Day said Mbeki's goal is to provide a new constitution and political reforms for Zimbabwe. Thokozani Khupe, an MDC vice president, told The New York Times the opposition wants to establish a "transitional authority" based on the outcome of the March 29 first round of the election in which Tsvangirai emerged with more votes than Mugabe.

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