South African President Thabo Mbeki was due to meet Wednesday with his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe and the leader of a breakaway faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change after meeting Tuesday with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a bid to restart stalled talks.

Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga confirmed that Mbeki would be travelling later to Harare to meet with Mugabe and MDC faction leader, Arthur Mutambara.

Asked why he would not be meeting with Tsvangirai, Ratshitanga told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: 'He met yesterday with Morgan Tsvangirai and his negotiators in Pretoria.'

Mbeki will be aiming to revive stalled talks between Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the MDC on the formation of a unity government.

The talks, which were taking place in Pretoria, were suspended abruptly on Monday amid reports of disagreement over the distribution of posts in the new powersharing arrangement.

The MDC is calling for Tsvangirai to have the leading role in the government, a position Zanu-PF says should go to Mugabe.

A party source said the talks reached an impasse when the MDC rubbished a Zanu-PF offer to make Tsvangirai a third vice-president under Mugabe.

Mbeki, southern Africa's mediator in Zimbabwe, on Tuesday downplayed the setback, saying the talks had merely been 'adjourned for a few days' to allow the negotiators consult with their party leaders.