A meeting of African leaders has failed to censure Zimbabwe's leader, Robert Mugabe, or to declare his one-man election invalid.

According to a senior official, the African Union has adopted a resolution encouraging dialogue between Mr Muagbe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Our correspondent in Johannesburg, Peter Cave, reports the official told reporters the AU had adopted a resolution calling for a dialogue between Zimbabwe's political opponents and a government of national unity.

Earlier in the day, both sides rejected just that solution.

The AU resolved to support the Southern African Development Community as the facilitator.

The Opposition has criticised the SADC's appointed negotiator, South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, as being an apologist for Robert Mugabe, and the African Union's own observers called the Mr Mugabe's election invalid because of the climate of violence under which it was conducted.

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