He suggested in a telephone interview from the southern city of Bulawayo, capital of his tribal fiefdom of Matabeleland, that Mr. Mugabe's publicly stated reasons for ending the talks were not honest.

The government argued they were all part of the same people, and also put forth the notion of pre-colonial sovereigny by certain Mauritanian emirates (tribal fiefdoms) over some of these tribes.

Already a failing state, it may well devolve into a group of tribal fiefdoms, warring over whatever meagre water resources remain.

Persia was then one of the most backward countries of the middle east, divided into tribal fiefdoms over which the Shahs now Qajar dynasty, had less and less influence.

"The worst, which is possible, is that he will become just another warlord" in a country whose rural areas are already carved into tribal fiefdoms.

"The hospital is run like a tribal fiefdom, and it's appalling," said Connie Rice, a civil rights lawyer here who is African-American.

The union has been uneasy, and a civil war in 1994 that ended in victory for the new national government in Sana left deep schisms, with tribal fiefdoms in the hinterland that have served as strongholds for the Islamic terrorist groups.

Despite the relentless push for an international recognition by the hardcore secessionists, the bottom line is that nobody wants to see the fragmentation, mutilation and the dismemberment of Somali state along tribal fiefdoms.