JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - New EU sanctions against Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe increased Western pressure as his party was to begin talks with the opposition aimed at ending the country's political stalemate.

The talks are to be held in South Africa, but the timing was unclear.

Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman for South African President Thabo Mbeke, said the talks would start Tuesday, but the opposition said they would not begin until Wednesday.

Bitter rivals Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed Monday to formal talks about sharing power to end Zimbabwe's crisis, deepened by three months of state-sponsored electoral violence.

"This is just the first step on a journey whose duration and success is dependent on the sincerity and good faith of all parties involved," Tsvangirai said in a statement Tuesday.

European Union foreign ministers agreed in Brussels to strengthen sanctions against Mugabe as a means of pressuring him to agree to share power with the opposition - a sign the West plans to keep the pressure on Mugabe.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said a face-to-face meeting between Mugabe and Tsvangirai on Monday - their first in 10 years - was only "a first step."

He said EU nations were expecting more proof that Mugabe was willing to sign up to a transitional government with the opposition.

"It requires an end to the violence, it requires an end to the ban on humanitarian NGO's getting around Zimbabwe. Those are the first steps toward a resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis," Miliband told reporters.

Mbeki persuaded the parties to agree to complete negotiations within two weeks, in a sudden show of urgency apparently heightened by intense international pressure.

The agreement includes a key opposition demand for an end to the political violence that has killed dozens, injured thousands and sent tens of thousands fleeing from their homes.

The breakthrough came after Mbeki agreed Friday to include representatives of the United Nations and the African Union in his mediation efforts.

The opposition accuses Mbeki of being partial to Mugabe.

The agreement has been seen as a victory for the opposition and gives no indication what Mugabe, who has clung to power for 28 years, may be willing to concede.

Observers and analysts say international pressure and Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis left Mugabe with little choice but to sign the agreement.

Zimbabwe's central bank issued a 100 billion-dollar note this week in an attempt to deal with the world's worst inflation rate.

Official inflation is given at 2.2 million per cent, but independent finance houses say it is nearer 12.5 million per cent.

"When you start to hit these kinds of figures you know the wheels have come off in a big way," said Richard Cornwell, researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.

Cornwell said that delaying negotiations with the opposition would prevent any international assistance.

Without any plans to rescue the economy and facing a situation where he soon might be unable to pay soldiers, Mugabe "had to try and work out a way forward," Cornwell said.

Zimbabwe's myriad problems also were spilling over its borders, with millions of economic and political refugees fleeing to neighbours.

Mugabe faced a crisis of credibility after African election monitors said the June 27 presidential runoff was not free and fair.

Several African leaders broke ranks to declare they did not recognize him as president of Zimbabwe.

"It is impossible to accept the second round of elections in Zimbabwe, with children being tortured, with barbarous acts being committed, with violation of basic democratic rules," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters after chairing the EU talks.

Analyst Brian Raftopolous argues that Mbeki might have been able to convince Mugabe that Monday's deal was the "last opportunity" to try to solve Zimbabwe's problems at a regional level.

"There may also be a sense that Mugabe feels it is best to deal with Mbeki, who has shown him a degree of tolerance," he said.

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