Johannesburg - The Elders, a group of leading activists and former world leaders, on Monday urged Zimbabwe's opposition to go into government with President Robert Mugabe in the interest of the Zimbabwean people.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has been holding out on joining a unity government on Mugabe's terms, demanding that power should be divided equally between the parties.

But The Elders, founded by anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, following a three-day fact-finding mission on Zimbabwe, called on the MDC to join the government despite the party being offered a junior partnership.

Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, former US president Jimmy Carter and Mozambican social activist Graca Machel briefed journalists in Johannesburg about their mission.

After being barred from travelling to Zimbabwe, the three met in South Africa with Zimbabwe's opposition leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations, Western donors and UN agencies.

Calling on Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC to quickly implement their September 15 power-sharing agreement, Carter said the MDC could try to redress the imbalance in power after the government is up and running.

Zanu-PF and the MDC are due to hold fresh talks Tuesday aimed at resolving their impasse on the formation of a unity government.

"The opposition has a majority in the parliament and an ability if they combine their forces together they can outvote Zanu-PF and make modifications in future laws," Carter said.

"We don't see this likelihood tomorrow of all issues being resolved but if there are any obvious inequities subsequently in the proper sharing or dividing of power they can be corrected some of them at least not only by immediate changes to the law but over a period of time until the new constitution is in place or over next 18 months," Carter added.

The Elders is a brains trust of founded by Mandela in 2007. Mugabe's government denied them visas to enter Zimbabwe at the weekend, saying they had not consulted officials about their visit.

Carter said the reports they had received were "all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much worse than anything we had ever imagined".

Annan criticized Zimbabwe's neighbours in the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) for not getting tough enough with Mugabe.

"I think its obvious that SADC could have and should have maybe done more," he said.

As an example, he cited the damning reports by SADC and African Union election observers on the June presidential run-off election, which found the election that Mugabe alone contested neither free nor fair.

"They could have endorsed it because these were their own observers," Annan said.

But The Elders took heart in the firmer tone taken by South Africa's new leadership on Zimbabwe.

South Africa last week announced it was withholding an aid package to Zimbabwe until a government was put in place.

"The tone which came from the government is a shift from what we are used to hearing," Machel, who is also Mandela's wife, noted, urging other SADC members to take an equally strong tone. (dpa)