No going back on Zimbabwe unity govt, says Tsvangirai

By Philimon Bulawayo

CHINHOYI, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Saturday there was no going back on the unity government, despite snags in implementing a power-sharing pact with President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai formed a coalition government with old rival Mugabe last February, after months of wrangling over the power-sharing deal they signed last September, in a bid to end years of political and economic upheaval in Zimbabwe.

Although some aspects of the agreement are yet to be concluded, Tsvangirai told thousands of supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at a rally in Chinhoyi, 115 kilometres (72 miles) west of Harare, that he was working well with Mugabe towards implementing the deal.

"There's no reverse on the inclusive government. There will be insults, but we will get there. We have one project, which is the inclusive government. It has specific policies and specific targets, which is to pull this country out of the quagmire," Tsvangirai said.

"We respect each other, although we may disagree. There's nothing Mugabe does without me approving and there is nothing I do without him approving."

The MDC is still pushing for the finalisation of outstanding issues in the power-sharing pact, including the senior government appointments to positions of central bank governor and attorney-general.

Tsvangirai has recently protested against Mugabe's decision to strip an MDC minister of the key telecommunications portfolio, which he handed to an ally from his ZANU-PF party.

The MDC leader repeated his calls for national reconciliation after years of political violence, which his party says cost the lives of hundreds of supporters at the hands of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Tsvangirai himself was brutally assaulted while in police custody in March 2007.