Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said today power-sharing talks with the opposition MDC were going well but dismissed media reports about a draft agreement.
"All that which is being reported is utter nonsense," Mr Mugabe said in an apparent reference to media speculation on the state of the talks between his Zanu-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change.
"The talks are going on very well and the people of Zimbabwe shall be informed in due course," he said in a statement issued through his spokesman.
South Africa's
Starnewspaper reported that under a draft settlement, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai would run the country as executive prime minister for a transitional period, with one deputy from each party, while Mr Mugabe would become ceremonial president.
Earlier today, Mr Mugabe spokesman George Charamba said the talks were making good progress but no meeting has been set between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwean media had said earlier that the two were expected to hold their first meeting since agreeing to the talks last month, and that South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator in the talks, was also due in Harare.
The two sides began talking over two weeks ago to defuse a crisis caused by the re-election of Mr Mugabe in a poll boycotted by the opposition and widely condemned internationally.