JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Parties in Zimbabwe have reached consensus on holding substantive crisis talks, a UN representative said Sunday, while sources said the agreement may be signed within 24 hours.
The United Nations' special representative to Zimbabwe, Haile Menkerios, said the draft had been agreed to by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which was "at least a first step".
"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.
"It hasn't been signed yet, but once that is done, once you clear the way or the basis for the talks, then the actual talks begin."
Sources within the ruling ZANU-PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change 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 told AFP.
A senior MDC official said on Sunday: "We are expecting that this thing will be signed tomorrow."
The movement towards fully-fledged negotiations came after a series of meetings involving rival parties, mediator South African President Thabo Mbeki, Menkerios and African Union commission chairman Jean Ping.
The memorandum of understanding was to be signed last Wednesday, but Tsvangirai backed out as he pushed for other players to be brought into a mediation process led by Mbeki.
The MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF began preliminary talks last week aimed at establishing a framework for substantive negotiations.
Mugabe won a one-man presidential run-off last month, widely denounced as a sham after Tsvangirai pulled out of the race due to a wave of deadly attacks on his supporters.
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