Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (centre L) greets South Africa President Kgalema Motlanthe as they arrive for the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional group in Mbabane October 20, 2008. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will not attend a regional summit on Zimbabwe's political crisis, throwing the mediation process into disarray. The meeting of the heads of state of Angola, Swaziland and Mozambique – who form the security committee of the SADC – is aimed at trying to help Zimbabwe's political rivals break a deadlock in negotiations on forming a cabinet. [Xinhua/Reuters]

Zimbabwean parties' talks on forming a unity government were delayed by a week because the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai refused to attend a summit held in Swaziland Monday, according to reports of agencies.

Tsvangirai did not attend the meeting of the security committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to seek a breakthrough in Zimbabwe's deadlock over allocation of ministries, because he was denied a passport, agencies reported.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the leader only got emergency travel documents late Sunday, saying this was an "insult" to him.

Zimbabwe's rival parties signed a landmark power-sharing deal on September 15 aimed to end the country's political impasse, which has worsened the country's economic crisis.

Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza (C) arrives for the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional group in Mbabane October 20, 2008.[Xinhua/Reuters]

Under the deal, the parties should form a cabinet of 31 ministries, of which 15 go to the ZANU-PF led by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 13 to the Movement for Democratic Change led by Tsvangirai (MDC-T), and three to the breakaway wing of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara.