Harare  - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has set a Monday meeting with opposition leaders as the last chance to present concerns before a government is formed, with or without them.

"This is the occasion when it's either they accept or it's a break," said Mugabe, quoted in the state-owned Sunday Mail. "After all, this is an interim agreement. If they (the opposition) have any issues them deem outstanding, they can raise them after they come into the inclusive government."

Regional leaders from neighbouring countries are expected to attend the meeting as observers.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition MDC, has previously threatened to pull out of a power-sharing deal with Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, saying that Mugabe's party is unfairly trying to hold onto the majority of the most-powerful ministries, despite the MDC's wins in last year's elections.

The MDC won a majority of legislative seats in elections last year. Tsvangirai won the most votes in a presidential election last year, but not an outright majority. He pulled out of a run-off election, citing unfair and violent tactics by the Zanu-PF.

Tsvangirai has also cited recent abductions and jailings of MDC members as reasons to be wary of any power-sharing deal with the Zanu-PF. He blames the abductions on supporters of Mugabe and said at least 11 members of his party are still missing while 32 are in police custody facing charges of toppling Mugabe.

But, upon returning to Zimbabwe on Saturday, he said he was committed to a power-sharing deal with Mugabe. However, he vowed not to be rushed into joining an inclusive government.

"I am very conscious of the plight of the people of this country and I hope that the meetings that are going to take place may actually find a lasting solution to the crisis," he said Saturday. "I must emphasize that the MDC will not be bulldozed into an agreement which does not reflect the aspirations of the people."

Tsvangirai is expected to meet his party's top leadership Sunday ahead of the Monday meeting.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a power sharing deal in September, but they have not formed a government of national unity. The agreement would keep Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president, with Tsvangirai becoming prime minister

The once-prosperous nation is facing its worst-ever economic and humanitarian crisis. Acute shortages of all essentials have pushed inflation to the highest levels in the world - officially at 231 percent as of last July.

The United Nations says more than 5 million face starvation if there is no food aid. Additionally, a cholera outbreak has claimed more than 2,200 lives as the country fails to import adequate stocks of water-treatment chemicals.

The raging epidemic coincides with a strike, now in its fourth month, by doctors and nurses demanding a review of their salaries. They are demanding that hospitals replace archaic equipment and that medicines be available in hospitals. dpa