Zimbabwe's opposition movement in talks with ruling party

Zimbabwe's opposition movement is in talks with President Robert Mugabe's ruling party over whether he should resign following presidential elections that likely put the opposition ahead, a U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday.

"I know that there are supposedly at various levels discussions between representatives of the opposition and representatives of the government," the State Department official said when asked about the talks between the ruling party and the opposition over Mugabe's future.

The official, who declined to be named, did not have specific details of the talks but said there was a lot of debate inside the ruling ZANU-PF party over how to proceed and whether Mugabe should resign after preliminary results suggested opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was ahead in the voting.

Asked whether he expected Mugabe to step down and about news reports that said this would soon be announced on Zimbabwean state television, he replied: "We'll see."

"I know there were discussions that were going on but we will see what happens and when it happens," he added.