Mugabe Pressured To Share Power

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Europe turned up pressure on Zimbabwe's leader to share power with the opposition, toughening sanctions yesterday against President Mugabe just as his ruling party was to begin talks with its chief rival mediated by South Africa.

Mr. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai met face-to-face Monday for the first time in 10 years and agreed to formal talks about power sharing after three months of state-sponsored electoral violence. The negotiations were expected to start either late yesterday or today at an undisclosed location around the South African capital, Johannesburg.

Analysts said growing international pressure coupled with Zimbabwe's economic meltdown left Mt. Mugabe little choice but to sign the agreement with the opposition. The central bank issued a $100 billion note this week in the face of the world's worst inflation — which officials estimate at 2.2 million percent annually but independent finance houses say is closer to 12.5 million percent.

"When you start to hit these kinds of figures, you know the wheels have come off in a big way," a researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, Richard Cornwell, said.