By Emma Thomasson

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Leaders of Kenya and Senegal cast doubt on Friday on whether a unity government will work in Zimbabwe and said President Robert Mugabe must go.

Zimbabwe's opposition MDC executive has endorsed party leader Morgan Tsvangirai's decision to join a unity government with Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change sources said on Friday.

But Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a former opposition leader who agreed to share power after post-election violence last year, questioned the deal.

"It is the time for Mr. Mugabe to be shown the door. If he is to be given a safe exit ... so be it," he told a meeting at the annual World Economic Forum of businessmen and political leaders in this Swiss ski resort.

"If he needs a golden handshake, let's assure him of a golden handshake," he said, referring to severance packages sometimes offered in the world of business.

Senegal's president, Abdoulaye Wade, said an impasse had been reached in Zimbabwe.

"If Mugabe does leave power... he could come to Senegal. We need to provide a smooth exit for him," Wade said.

The decision by the MDC executive to back Tsvangirai on Friday increases the chances of implementing a long-stalled power sharing deal seen as a way to tackle the worsening economic and humanitarian crisis.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe defended the agreement reached by southern African leaders on Tuesday that a unity government should be formed next month.

"We are more keen to take our cue from the people of Zimbabwe themselves... rather than try to impose on them our own solutions," he said.

"This time we have the political basis for a breakthrough in Zimbabwe ... If we undo that and present no practical alternative it means we are perpetuating the deterioration of that country."

But Odinga said an African Union summit next week should take a tougher stance on Mugabe.

"The African Union has let the people of Zimbabwe down," he said. "Africa needs to stand firm."

Motlanthe rejected Odinga's idea for a peacekeeping force to help bring in humanitarian assistance and end a crisis in which more than 3,000 people have been killed by a cholera outbreak and more than half the population needs food aid.

"No two countries are exactly the same. We shouldn't generalise the experience of Kenya," he said. "Peace is by far cheaper in terms of resources and human lives than even the cheapest of wars." For full coverage, blogs and TV from Davos go to http://www.reuters.com/davos (Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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