Southern African leaders have said that Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has agreed, at a regional summit, to ensure fair presidential elections in March, including independent international monitors.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community issued a communiqué saying that Mr Mugabe had also agreed to investigate political violence in Zimbabwe and allow international media to cover the elections. Mr Mugabe has been accused of muzzling opposition politicians.
The main opposition leader in Zimbabwe earlier called on South Africa to impose direct sanctions on his country.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said that such a move would send a strong message to President Mugabe and the Zimbabwean military not to undermine presidential elections.
The country's parliament passed legislation last week, which granted President Mugabe sweeping security powers. Mr Tsvangirai described the Development Community as useless and urged South Africa to go it alone and introduce sanctions.
