Police used sticks to beat women in southern Zimbabwe during a peaceful protest called Thursday to urge politicians to resolve their differences and help their suffering people.

The demonstrators in Bulawayo were carrying a statement from the civil rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise.

It accuses Zimbabwe's politicians of offering empty promises in their Sept. 15 agreement to form a national unity government after disputed elections.

The stalemate over cabinet posts has left Zimbabwe rudderless as its economy deteriorates, creating shortages of food, medicine and most other basic goods.

The group said in a statement that about 200 of its members were sitting outside local government offices waiting for officials to come and hear their demands.

Riot police arrived instead, arrested two of the group's leaders and dispersed the others by beating them with sticks. The women's group said at least one protester required medical attention.

Repeated attempts to reach the national police spokesman for comment were unsuccessful.

Zimbabwe police regularly crack down on protests by groups critical of the government.

The two women arrested Thursday, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, were jailed for five weeks earlier this year after being arrested during a peaceful protest in the Zimbabwean capital.

While the demonstrators rallied in the city of Bulawayo, President Robert Mugabe and his chief political rivals were in their third day of talks aimed at saving a power-sharing deal signed a month ago. The opposition says the deal is threatened by Mugabe's insistence on keeping the most powerful cabinet posts his party.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has been mediating discussions between Mugabe, main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, and Arthur Mutumbara, leader of a smaller opposition faction.

An article Thursday in the Herald, a state-run newspaper, quoted an unidentified official from Mugabe's party as saying compromises could be made that would change the cabinet lineup Mugabe unilaterally announced last week.

During a break in Thursday's talks, Welshman Ncube, a negotiator for Mutumbara, said negotiators had reached a compromise on the finance and police ministries. He would not describe the compromise, but said the deal could be complete later Thursday. (Star)