"We want to live in a peaceful country," Mr Mugabe said, after talks with Mr Tsvangirai, his long-time rival.

Mr Tsvangirai's MDC party has repeatedly accused pro-Mugabe militants of disrupting its rallies.

Polls are expected next year, ending the unity government formed in 2009.

The two leaders signed a coalition pact following a disputed election the previous year, in which Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the run-off against Mr Mugabe, citing political violence.

Their alliance has been marked by frequent disagreements.

After meeting Mr Mugabe in the capital, Harare, Mr Tsvangirai called on the security forces not to unleash violence and to allow his party to hold meetings, reports the AFP news agency.

"I urge law enforcement agents to begin to take their national responsibilities seriously," he is quoted as saying.

"State agents, especially the police, must protect the people and not harm the people."

Mr Mugabe said parties should be allowed to hold rallies freely.

"We are bound together by our nationality, singing the same national anthem," he is quoted as saying.

"If we could reconcile with the whites [at the time of independence in 1980], now as fellow blacks, why do we trouble each other, why do we fight?"

On Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said supporters of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party stoned its rally outside Harare.

The MDC says it was the latest incident of Zanu-PF disrupting its activities ahead of elections.

It also accused the police of firing tear gas at its headquarters last week.

No date has yet been set for the elections, in which the two are expected to face each other once more.

By BBC