A draft agreement to hold substantive talks has been reached between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
UN special representative to Zimbabwe Haile Menkerios confirmed Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding ahead of another round of talks in Harare today.
The move towards fully-fledged negotiations comes after South African President Thabo Mbeki's long-term mediation efforts were widened to include the UN, the African Union and the Southern African Development Community.
Mr Menkerios said the draft, once signed, would clear the way for actual talks on the future of the crisis-ridden country to take place.
'There is a draft which we are informed the two negotiating parties have agreed to but the two principals, that is Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, would have to sign,' he told South African public radio.
Although parties involved in the talks expressed hope of an agreement being signed today, Mr Tsvangirai's personal spokesman and a spokesman for Mr Mbeki did not confirm this.
But a spokesman for AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping, also in Zimbabwe to meet the different parties, said Mr Tsvangirai had given an assurance that the Movement for Democratic Change would sign the agreement.
Mr Mugabe won a one-man presidential run-off last month, widely denounced as a sham after Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the race due to attacks on his supporters.
Mr Tsvangirai has rejected the idea of a national unity government, saying instead he wanted a transitional administration that would pave the way for fresh elections.
Mr Mugabe, 84, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, has for his part insisted that the MDC has to acknowledge his victory in the run-off if there is to be any kind of power-sharing deal.
However, sources within the ruling ZANU-PF and the MDC say the agreement could be signed in the next few days.
'We expect that there will be movement on the talks either Monday and at the latest Tuesday,' a government source close to the talks said yesterday. A senior MDC official said yesterday: 'We are expecting that this thing will be signed tomorrow.'
Rival parties in meetings
The movement towards fully-fledged negotiations came after a series of meetings involving rival parties, and Mr Mbeki, Mr Menkerios and Mr Ping.
Mr Menkerios has been in Harare since Friday, and held a meeting with Mr Ping and Mr Mbeki, while Mr Ping met with Mr Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai and a separate MDC faction on Saturday, an AU commission spokesman said.
The memorandum of understanding was to be signed last Wednesday, but Mr Tsvangirai backed out as he pushed for other players to be brought into a mediation process led by Mr Mbeki.
The opposition leader has also said he will only take part in substantive talks once some 1,500 political prisoners are released and violence against his supporters ceases.
His spokesman George Sibotshiwe said Mr Tsvangirai was waiting to hear from Mr Mbeki as to when the signing would take place. He said they had relayed their concerns, adding: 'We are waiting to hear from the facilitator ... when it will be signed.'
While there where conflicting reports from ZANU-PF and the MDC whether Mr Mbeki would fly in to Harare today for the signing, the mediator's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said he 'was not aware' of this.
The MDC and ZANU-PF began preliminary talks last week aimed at establishing a framework for substantive negotiations.
