Southern African leaders have held lengthy discussions on a power-sharing agreement to end Zimbabwe's post-election political crisis.
A diplomatic source close to the talks, which were seeking to bring together President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the opposition MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, said a deal had not yet been agreed on.
Leaders of the 14-member Southern African Development Community had discussed the draft agreement during a closed session of nearly five hours. Diplomats said both Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai had taken part.
Another diplomatic source close to the talks said progress had been made, and that an agreement could be signed soon.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief mediator in the Zimbabwe talks, said millions of Zimbabweans were awaiting a positive outcome ‘with great expectations and high hopes’.
Mr Mbeki, who met participants in the talks on Friday, has been widely criticised for not taking a tough line with Mr Mugabe. He would score a political coup if an agreement were reached during the meeting.
Power-sharing negotiations began last month after Mr Mugabe's was re-elected unopposed in June, in a vote condemned throughout the world and boycotted by Mr Tsvangirai because of attacks on his supporters.
