The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Harare

Rival camps held talks Tuesday over an end to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai saying weekend polls had given him a mandate for historic change. While there was no public admission of defeat by Mugabe, several diplomats and even a senior source within his own party said the 84-year-old had agreed in principle to stand down. Tsvangirai, whose party has already claimed victory in Saturday's joint presidential and parliamentary elections, also declined to declare himself the victor or confirm that any deal was in the pipeline. But while he said he would await the official result from the country's electoral commission, Tsvangirai told reporters that he had been given a clear mandate for change.

"I am prepared to wait until as long as the ZEC (electoral commission) confirms the results," Tsvangirai told a news conference in his first public appearance since Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

But while he sidestepped the question of whether he now considered himself the rightful president, the Movement for Democratic Change leader left little doubt that he expected to soon be elevated to State House.

"After the 29th of March, Zimbabwe will never be the same again. In those minutes inside the polling booths each one rewrote the history of Zimbabwe," he said.