Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe opposition leader, on Thursday night flatly rejected Zimbabwe and South African government claims that substantive constitutional talks were under way in the South African capital Pretoria.

In a strongly worded statement Mr Tsvangirai said that the meeting attended by Tendai Biti, Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general and Elton Mangoma, deputy treasurer, was “solely to present the conditions under which genuine negotiations can take place and the mechanism under which these negotiations will be conducted as defined by the African Union resolution”.