Zimbabwe's opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has turned down President Robert Mugabe's invitation to return to Zimbabwe and be sworn in as Prime Minister, local media reported on Saturday.

According to a letter Tsvangirai wrote to President Mugabe on December, 2008 and published by the Post newspaper of Zambia on New Year's Day, the opposition leader claimed further negotiations were still required.

The letter was left at Zimbabwe's Embassy in Botswana by a "source who refused to identify himself", The Herald said.

Tsvangirai's letter comes at a time when the US State Department has announced that it was opposed to the envisaged inclusive government.

US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer announced on December 21 that the US was "withdrawing support for the inclusive Government".

However, the daily newspaper said it is reliably informed that the ruling Zanu-PF and another opposition MDC fraction are moving ahead with finalizing the formation of the envisaged inclusive government.

A senior government official confirmed that President Mugabe and MDC leader Arthur Mutambara met on Wednesday to map the way forward in the formation of the inclusive government regardless of Tsvangirai's letter.

In his letter, Tsvangirai said he was not prepared to finalise the agreement. He said he wanted another meeting between himself and President Mugabe in the presence of South African interim President and SADC Chair Kgalema Motlanthe.

"I acknowledge receipt of a copy of your letter dated 17 December 2008 and my passport, delivered to me on Christmas Day by the South African High Commissioner to Botswana Dikgang Moopeloa,"he said.

"I am sure you are anxious to proceed to the successful implementation of the Global Political Agreement, anxiety that I share, but the issues are so profound that we must act in a logical sequence," Tsvangirai told Mugabe in his letter.

This was the first time that the opposition openly admitted that Tsvangirai had been formally invited to take the post of Prime Minister. But analysts said this demonstrated that Tsvangirai was looking for excuses to sabotage the inclusive Government in light of indications by the US and other Western countries that they would not support the envisaged inclusive government.

Tsvangirai is still holed up in Botswana despite receiving his passport. Before he was issued with a passport, Tsvangirai cited the absence of a travelling document as his reason for not coming back home.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2009)