HARARE, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe ruling ZANU-PF has said figure to lead a unity government in the country must be President Robert Mugabe, state media the herald reported on Friday.

    The state-owed newspaper said the ruling ZANU-PF held a meeting on Wednesday during which it decided not to accept a power-sharing deal if that does not recognize Mugabe's re-election in June 27 presidential run-off.

    The ruling party also said it will not accept such a deal if it backs down from the ongoing land reform in the country.

    According to the Herald, the meeting stressed that if there has to be a figure who names the all inclusive government described in the memorandum signed by the ruling and opposition parties days ago, the figure must be Mugabe.

    Zimbabwe ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change signed Monday a deal, paving the way for formal talks to end the crisis in the country.

    The deal was signed by president Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

    The signing of the deal is a major breakthrough as the two sides began to negotiate since July 10 in South Africa, which was brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

    The agreement set out conditions for talks on forming a unity government in the country.

    The two sides formally started talks Thursday in South Africa's administrative capital Pretoria to seek an end to Zimbabwe's political deadlock.

    The talks were under way on Thursday, President Thabo Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said.

    Leading negotiators at the talks in an undisclosed venue are Zimbabwe's Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Public Services Minister Nicholas Goche, representing ZANU-PF, and opposition MDC's Secretary General Tendai Biti and Deputy Treasurer Elton Mangoma.

    Zimbabwean President and ruling ZANU-PF cadidate Mugabe won a landslide victory in the presidential run-off election on June 27. The Zimbabwe election committee said official results showed that Mugabe, 84, won 85.5 percent of the votes in the election against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's 9.3 percent, defeating Tsvangirai by a huge margin.

    Zimbabwe held the presidential run-off election as scheduled despite opposition MDC leader Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the race. Tsvangirai withdrew from the election citing various reasons, including political violence.

    Tsvangirai received 47.9 percent of the votes in the first round of election held on March 29, followed by President Robert Mugabe's 43.2 percent.

    An outright winner needs to obtain an absolute majority of the votes, otherwise a run-off needs to be held, according to Zimbabwe's law.