According to Odinga, the talks that would follow this agreement would be held in Pretoria and would still be mediated by Mbeki, but with AU and UN supervision. Also on 20 July, Zimbabwe's "Sunday Mail" reported that any companies with Western investments would be taken over by Zimbabweans or by "companies from friendly countries, particularly those in the Far East" if they acted on Western calls to stop doing business in Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF and both groups of the MDC signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a framework for talks on 21 July in Harare. Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai were present to sign the agreement; they shook hands on this occasion, and it was reportedly the first time they had met in about 10 years. According to Mbeki, who was also present, the agreement "commits the negotiating parties to an intense program of work to try and finalize negotiations as quickly as possible". Mugabe said that the aim of the talks was to "chart a new way, a new way of political interaction", while Tsvangirai described the agreement as "the first tentative step towards searching for a solution for a country that is in crisis". Under the terms of the agreement, the parties agreed to end political violence and work towards a national unity government and a new constitution; the agreement also required that the parties not use the media as a means of negotiation and set the period for negotiations at two weeks. Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga subsequently said that this was not a strict limit and talks could continue after two weeks if necessary. Following the preliminary agreement, talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC reportedly began on 22 July in South Africa. Ratshitanga said on 23 July that the talks had begun at an undisclosed location, but Chinamasa said that they were to start on 24 July. "The Herald" reported on 24 July that negotiating teams for both parties took the same flight to South Africa on 23 July. Meanwhile, the South African newspaper "Business Day" reported that the two sides had already reached agreement on most of the issues, although details remained to be decided. "The Herald" reported on 25 July that the ZANU-PF Politburo had decided that any agreement with the opposition must leave Mugabe in office as president and must not threaten land reform. Ratshitanga said on 26 July that the talks were "proceeding well", although he gave no details. On 28 July, an MDC official said that the talks had stalled due to disagreement on the question of who would lead the government; according to the official, Tsvangirai had been offered the position of Vice-President, but the MDC was unwilling to accept any deal that did not place Tsvangirai at the head of the government.