Harare- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and pro- democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai resumed negotiations on power- sharing in Harare on Saturday, to settle on the share of ministerial portfolios, sources close to the talks said.

"They are in a meeting in state house right now," said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The talks were taking place in State House, the official presidential office, and also involved Arthur Mutambara, the head of the lesser faction of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

A power-sharing agreement setting up a new transitional "inclusive" government has been in limbo since the document was signed on September 15, as the 84-year-old autocrat Mugabe and Tsvangirai were deadlocked over the allocation of key ministries.

Sources said the MDC was willing to concede the defence and state security ministries to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, but was insisting on getting the ministries of home affairs, which includes the police, and finance.

The three met on Tuesday, but ended again in deadlock as with the first series of fruitless meetings immediately after the signing. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Mugabe wanted "all the important ministries."

The agreement provides for a total of 31 ministries, 15 of them for Zanu-PF, 13 for the Tsvangirai's MDC and three for Mutambara's faction. The two MDC factions are expected to form an alliance to present a majority in the cabinet.

Zanu-PF sources say a clique of party leaders, alarmed at the imminent loss of patronage and influence they have enjoyed for the last nearly 29 years, have dug in their heels and are trying to force Mugabe to concede no more than he already has.

A senior South African official, representing former South African president Thabo Mbeki who is the mediator in the talks mandated by Southern African regional leaders, was due in Zimbabwe on Monday to try to accelerate the slow pace of the negotiations.

The MDC said on Tuesday it had referred the deadlocked talks to Mbeki's team, but Zanu-PF said it was unnecessary to involve it.

While the deadlock drags on, the country's humanitarian and economic crisis continues to worsen daily, with inflation surging through tens of million per cent, while ordinary people queue sometimes for days for cash at banks, and there is little or no stock in shops.

Aid agencies report widespread starvation in rural areas.

"There just is no food, or the little there is, is too expensive," said a commentary Saturday in the website of Zimbabwe's Catholic Jesuit order.

"The country is not functioning. Our leaders do not even see our national or local needs. They could not care less. They spend their wrangling over ministerial appointments. Like useless workers, they might as well be sacked." (dpa)