Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai arrives for power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe in Harare, 17 Oct 2008

Zimbabwe's ruling party has accused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of stalling on a power-sharing deal, after Tsvangirai refused to attend a regional summit to save the accord.

State media Tuesday quote ZANU-PF's chief negotiator, Patrick Chinamasa, as saying Tsvangirai appears to have a "reluctance or hesitancy" to finalize talks on a unity government.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and several other regional leaders gathered in Swaziland for the summit Monday.  But Tsvangirai refused to attend, citing the government's refusal to renew his passport.  

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) termed the passport refusal an "insult" that shows ZANU-PF is not ready to share power.

The summit of Southern African Development Community leaders has been rescheduled for next Monday in Harare.

Power-sharing talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC are stalled over which party will control key government ministries.

Under a basic power-sharing deal reached last month, the opposition MDC would control 16 Cabinet posts, with ZANU-PF getting 15. But the MDC threatened to pull out of the deal after Mr. Mugabe unilaterally gave ZANU-PF control of key posts that oversee the military, police and foreign affairs.

The agreement was designed to end the crisis sparked by Zimbabwe's disputed and widely-dismissed presidential elections earlier this year.

The sides are under pressure to reach a deal so Zimbabwe can pull out of its economic tailspin.  Inflation recently hit 231 million percent as the country's suffers shortages of food, fuel and other basic goods.