Talks on the make-up of Zimbabwe's new unity government hit immediate deadlock today only three days after the signature of a ground-breaking power-sharing deal.

After telling supporters today that he was still firmly "in the driving seat", President Robert Mugabe met his chief political foe, Morgan Tsvangirai, and another opposition leader, Arthur Mutambara to agree on the allocation of ministries.

But Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai's movement for Democratic Change, told reporters: “The meeting was inconclusive, it was a deadlock and has been referred to the negotiating teams for further work to try and find common ground.”

The talks will be closely watched both inside Zimbabwe and in the West, where there has been a cautious reaction to Monday's accord.

President Mugabe earlier told supporters in his Zanu (PF) party that the power-sharing deal was a "humiliation, but added: “Anyhow here we are, still in a dominant position which will enable us to gather more strength as we move into the future. We remain in the driving seat."

The deal, mediated by President Mbeki of South Africa, followed weeks of tense negotiations to end a political crisis compounded by the veteran leader’s disputed re-election as president in June after Mr Tsvangirai was forced to stand back by a campaign of intimidation.

Under the deal, Mr Tsvangirai will become prime minister and head a council of ministers. Sceptics have pointed out, however, that Mr Mugabe will still chair Cabinet, which will meet more frequently and is likely to wield much more power, as well as keep control of the army.

Zanu (PF), which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is expected to take 15 seats in Cabinet while Mr Tsvangirai's party takes 13 and Mr Mutambara's faction the remaining three.

Zimbabweans hope that the agreement will be a first step in helping to rescue Zimbabwe from economic collapse. Inflation has rocketed to over 11 million percent and millions have fled to neighbouring southern African countries.

But Mr Mugabe's comments will only serve to fuel scepticism about how seriously he and his allies take the deal.

Despite pleas from Mr Tsvangirai for Western aid agencies and companies to return, both the European Union and United States have said that they will wait to see clear evidence that the accord is working before they start to resume aid payments.

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