Zimbabwe's political rivals may sign a power-sharing agreement to end the country's political crisis today after regional leaders discussed a draft deal at a South African summit, a diplomatic source said.
The source said a draft power-sharing agreement to end more than month of negotiations was being discussed this afternoon in a closed session of a summit of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Johannesburg.
"The parties might even sign tonight," said the source, who is close to the talks.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said earlier that the summit of regional leaders could help Zimbabwe's rival parties complete the talks.
"This summit affords us the possibility to assist the Zimbabwean parties to finalise their negotiations so that together they can ... work to achieve national healing and reconciliation," Mr Mbeki said at the start of a two-day SADC summit.
Mr Mbeki, mandated by the SADC to mediate an end to post-election turmoil in Zimbabwe, urged a quick resolution to the country's crisis.
"I'm certain that the millions of Zimbabweans both inside and outside the country await with great expectations and high hopes a positive outcome from our deliberations," he said.
Mr Mbeki met participants in the talks yesterday. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said discussions would continue at the summit.
The South African leader, criticised for not taking a tough line with Mugabe, would score a political coup if an agreement were reached during the meeting.
Mr Mugabe sat on the stage with other Southern African leaders at the summit opening ceremony while the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, sat in an observers' gallery.
Mr Mbeki's spokesman said he had separate meetings with Mr Mugabe, Arthur Mutambara, the leader of a breakaway MDC faction, and Mr Tsvangirai yesterday.
Asked how optimistic he was that talks would succeed, MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti replied: "Fifty-fifty". Both he and Mr Tsvangirai declined to answer further questions.