Zimbabwe ? Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, locked in a standoff with the opposition in power-sharing talks, went ahead Saturday and laid claim to all key ministries as he tries to retain his iron grip on the struggling southern African nation.

Opposition leaders denounced the move, saying it jeopardized a September power-sharing deal that had deadlocked over Cabinet posts.

Aid agencies have raised concerns that delays in forming a unity government are exacerbating the country’s humanitarian crisis. Inflation is now at 231 million percent and the country will have to rely on food aid to feed nearly half its population.

The opposition immediately called the action “unilateral, contemptuous and outrageous.”