Johannesburg/Harare - Talks between President Robert Mugabe and pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai over the share of government ministries between them were due to resume Friday for the fourth successive day, with no sign the deadlock could be resolved.

Even the usually optimistic Herald, the daily propaganda newspaper of Mugabe's ZANU(PF) party, said in a headline, "Cabinet talks hit brick wall" after Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a lesser faction of the MDC, disbanded late Thursday after eight hours of fruitless debate.

"They (the MDC) maintain their position, as we do," Mugabe said as he left the conference venue.

Since the three parties signed a power sharing agreement on September 15, the stumbling block is the ministry of home affairs, which includes control of the police force.

Mugabe last week unilaterally allocated all the key ministries in the proposed "inclusive government" to his ZANU(PF) party, including the defence ministry and home affairs, which would give him total control of the country's security forces.

Tsvangirai insists that control of the uniformed forces has to be balanced, and has conceded the control of the defence ministry to the
84-year-old Mugabe.

The MDC inflicted on ZANU(PF) its first electoral defeat in parliamentary elections and the first round of the presidential ballot in March.

The second round presidential vote collapsed in a wave of brutal attacks launched by Mugabe's military and police commanders on the MDC.

Sources said that Mugabe on Thursday night agreed to cede control of the finance ministry to the MDC.

Under his control for the last 28 years since independence, the country's economy has collapsed with inflation conservatively put at 231 million per cent, while the currency yesterday continued its headlong crash, reaching 50 million Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar on Thursday, from 100 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar in early August, when the regime redenominated its currency by slashing off 10 zeroes.

Tsvangirai last week declared he would walk away from the negotiations if the MDC was not allocated the home affairs ministry - one department of which is responsible for refusing to issue him with a new passport.

MDC sources said Friday he had been made an offer on Thursday night of a new home affairs ministry with control revolving between the two.

"Morgan rejected it," said the source. "He is resolute, and so is his negotiating team. It's home affairs or nothing. ZANU(PF) has nothing new to offer. They are just trying to wear him down into accepting. Morgan says he cannot deliver to the people without home affairs."

The source said that Tsvangirai was happy to refer the stalemate to the Southern African Development Community, the 14-nation regional political alliance which set the talks in motion, for mediation.

"Let them see if they think it's fair that the losing party in the elections should appropriate almost total control of cabinet posts," said the source.

Observers say the impasse is dramatically aggravating a humanitarian catastrophe, as famine begins to claim the lives of hundreds of starving children whose parents have no food.

By January almost one in two people will be dependent on food aid, although famine relief operations have barely resumed after a three- month ban imposed by Mugabe.

Late Thursday, James McGee, the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe said aid - except humanitarian - would not be resumed, nor would targeted sanctions against members of Mugabe's power clique be lifted until there was "evidence of long-term political and economic reform. "Until then, it will not happen," he said.