Talks may grant Mugabe reprieve

Commonwealth leaders were meeting for key talks on Zimbabwe today amid signs that President Robert Mugabe could be granted a temporary reprieve.

Britain is pressing for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the organisation after last week's elections, which saw Mr Mugabe returned to power with widespread evidence of intimidation and vote-rigging.

A panel of South African President Thabo Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been asked to rule on whether to punish Zimbabwe, with penalties including suspension.

However Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo emerged from talks with Mr Mugabe in Harare yesterday talking of compromise. They also met defeated opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now facing charges of treason, whose Movement for Democratic Change has promised to release election statistics soon that differ greatly from government results.

Commonwealth election observers warned in an interim report that the ballot had not been free and fair, but there were doubts as to whether today's meeting, at Marlborough House in London, would back up their findings.