JOHANNESBURG, Aug 15 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki will meet the main participants in Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks on Friday before a regional summit, his spokesman said.

Talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and breakaway MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara to end a political crisis stalled earlier this week when Tsvangirai did not agree to a proposed deal.

"There is a meeting with President Mugabe, thereafter Arthur Mutambara, thereafter Morgan Tsvangirai," Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said.

"They (the meetings) are in progress. He (Mbeki) is meeting with them one by one." Mbeki has been leading the regional mediation effort to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis.

The power-sharing talks, which began soon after Mugabe's unopposed re-election in June that was boycotted by Tsvangirai and widely condemned, are expected to resume on the sidelines of a South African Development Community summit that opens in South Africa on Saturday. (Reporting by Phakamisa Ndzamela, writing by Gordon Bell, editing by Tim Pearce)

AlertNet news is provided by