Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and ministers drawn from his MDC party today boycotted a cabinet meeting led by President Robert Mugabe for the second time in as many weeks.

"We did not attend a cabinet meeting again today until the outstanding issues have been addressed," Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who is also a cabinet minister, told AFP.

The second boycott by Tsvangirai came after his talks with Mugabe on Monday failed to break a deadlock after the MDC shelved unity government ties on October 16, sparking a crisis in the eight month partnership.

"It is not possible to continue with this inclusive government without addressing outstanding issues," Chamisa later told a press conference.

Following a tour by Tsvangirai last week to appeal for regional intervention, the MDC is pinning hopes on a Mozambican-chaired Southern African Development Community (SADC) team that is heading to Harare on Thursday.

"We are waiting for the troika which is arriving on Thursday. Hopefully there will be a breakthrough to this impasse, a breakthrough to this deadlock," said Chamisa.

"We are still deadlocked, there is still a stalemate in terms of issues on the table."

While the MDC ministers again snubbed the cabinet meeting, government sources said Mugabe and his ministers met this morning with a smaller faction of the MDC led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Under the unity government accord, ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front) has 15 cabinet ministers, Tsvangirai's MDC has 13 while Mutambara's smaller faction has three.

Chamisa accused hardliners in ZANU-PF, headed by 85-year-old Mugabe who has led Zimbabwe since 1980, of wanting the fragile power-sharing arrangement to unravel.

"There are people in ZANU-PF who are determined to see the collapse of the inclusive government," he said.

SADC confirmed Tuesday that it will be sending its politics, defence and security body on a fact-finding mission to Harare. The bloc mediated the unity pact that underpins the government.

"The troika will be visiting Zimbabwe to review progress on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement," said SADC spokeswoman Leefa Martin.

"This is the agreed review that was set to take place six months after the establishment of the Inclusive Government.

"It is slightly delayed as it was to happen in September," she said, adding that the month had coincided with a heads of state summit.

Zimbabwe's two main camps were said to be "poles apart" after Monday's talks which were the first since Tsvangirai suspended relations, sparking a crisis in the new government tasked with pulling Zimbabwe out of years of crisis.

The MDC leader has said he will only resume cooperation once all outstanding issues are resolved, including wrangles over key posts and a crackdown on his supporters.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe agreed to form a unity government in February after months of deadlock, nearly a year after disputed polls.

"We are still confident on South Africa and the SADC," African Union chairman Jean Ping told South African radio today.

"We are preoccupied by the present situation. It should be solved and I think it is solvable."

By The Times (SA)