Mugabe, Tsvangirai back in power-sharing talks

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai returned to power-sharing negotiations Monday afternoon with several "sticking points" left to resolve.

When Sunday's session ended after nearly 14 hours, Mugabe told reporters: "We obviously have sticking points like in any talks, but we look forward to overcoming them."

The meetings are mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Monday's session has ended and they are scheduled to resume Tuesday afternoon.

Mugabe said Monday that he "wanted to raise my fist" at times during Sunday's marathon session, but that Mbeki kept everyone calm and talking.

Mugabe was speaking at a National Heroes Day commemoration, honoring fighters who died in his country's war of liberation against white minority rule.

In his speech, the Zimbabwe president defended the use of violence "when you are under attack and your possessions are threatened."

"We're human beings," he said. "We'll defend ourselves."

"It's not a sin to defend ourselves, protecting our legacy," he said. "After that, as a family you sit down. That's where we are."

Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has not commented since the last negotiating session ended, referring questions to Mbeki.

After Mugabe's re-election in a June presidential runoff, which was condemned internationally as a sham, the two leaders reached an agreement on July 21 that paved the way for power-sharing talks.

Tsvangirai garnered the most votes in the March general election, but not enough to avoid a runoff, according to the government's official count.

He withdrew from the June 27 runoff days before the vote, saying Mugabe's supporters had orchestrated a campaign of beatings, intimidation and murders against his supporters.

However, on Thursday, the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF party released a joint statement acknowledging that both bore responsibility for the politically motivated violence that engulfed the country after the disputed March election.

The statement called on their supporters to "stop and desist" from carrying out further violence.

"We further reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that the law is applied fairly and justly to all persons irrespective of political affiliation, to take all necessary measures within our power to eliminate all forms of political violence, including by non-state actors, and to ensure the security of persons and property and provide support to victims of violence," the statement said.

Zimbabwe saw unprecedented violence between the March 29 election and the runoff. The MDC claimed ZANU-PF killed about 100 of its supporters.

-- CNN's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report.

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