(Adds S.Africa's Zuma comments on talks)

By Nelson Banya

HARARE, Nov 5 (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe's government on Wednesday accused Botswanan President Ian Khama of interference and said his call for fresh elections to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis was an "act of extreme provocation".

Khama, who has emerged as one of Mugabe's staunchest critics in Africa, told Botswana's parliament on Monday that an election was the only way out of the deadlock that threatens to derail a power-sharing deal between Mugabe and the opposition MDC.

"The statement he has made to his country is an act of extreme provocation to Zimbabwe," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted as saying in Zimbabwe's state-controlled Herald newspaper.

"He has no right under international law as an individual or country to interfere in our domestic affairs."

The diplomatic row occurred just days before the Southern African Development Community, a 15-nation regional bloc, was scheduled to hold an emergency summit in South Africa to discuss the political stalemate in Zimbabwe.

A smaller SADC meeting in Harare last month failed to break the impasse.

Mugabe and the leaders of the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change agreed on September 15 to share power, but talks have stalled over control of ministries.

Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa's ruling African National Congress, said regional leaders should be tougher on the Zimbabwean parties to force them to end the deadlock and abide by the September agreement.

"I think SADC must put its pressure more strongly on its colleagues, because what happens in Zimbabwe does affect the region, and I think the region should say to the Zimbabwean leader 'enough is enough'," he said on SABC radio.

Setting up a unity government is seen as critical to reversing an economic meltdown in the southern African nation.

Zimbabweans are struggling to survive amid widespread shortages of meat, milk and other basic commodities as a result of the collapse of the agricultural sector. The country is dependent on food handouts and malnutrition is on the rise.

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the bigger MDC faction who would become prime minister under the power-sharing deal, has accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF of trying to seize the lion's share of important ministries to try to relegate the MDC to the role of junior partner.

The MDC won a March parliamentary election but not with enough votes to avoid a run-off. Tsvangirai then pulled out of the second vote, citing violence against his supporters.

Tsvangirai left Zimbabwe on Wednesday to visit countries in the region ahead of the Sunday summit, travelling on a temporary travel document after the government failed to issue him with a passport, the MDC said in a statement.

He snubbed a planned SADC meeting in Swaziland last month after being denied a passport. (Additional reporting by Gordon Bell; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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