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Zimbabwe leaders 'to sign deal' |
| Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition are due to sign a deal outlining a framework for talks on the country's political crisis, both sides say. |
Haile Menkerios, the UN's envoy to Zimbabwe, said the deal would be signed by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is to fly to Harare to witness the deal.
The two sides are locked in a dispute over presidential elections - which they both claim to have won.
The agreement was due to be signed last week but Mr Tsvangirai pulled out.
Mr Tsvangirai garnered more votes in the initial presidential poll - but election officials said there was no outright winner and called for a run-off.
Mr Mugabe won the run-off - but he was the only candidate after Mr Tsvangirai pulled out, accusing the government of mounting a campaign of violence against his supporters.
Opposition conditions
"The signing will take place this afternoon," Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the AFP news agency.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials also say they expect the agreement to be signed on Monday.
But the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Johannesburg says the opposition insist that the signing ceremony is not held at State House - it is due to be held in a Harare hotel.
Our correspondent also notes that the five-page agreement to be signed does not go into details of a power-sharing arrangement - it is merely the starting point for substantive talks.
He says that the fact that the African Union (AU) and the United Nations joined the South African mediation efforts was crucial in persuading the MDC to agree to talk.
The MDC accuses the South African president of being biased in favour of Mr Mugabe, and Mr Tsvangirai had asked for another envoy to replace him.
On Friday, it was announced that a group of senior diplomats, drawn from the UN, AU and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), would help Mr Mbeki.
One of those was Mr Menkerios, who said he believed the two men had agreed a draft memorandum of understanding setting out the terms under which they could enter direct negotiations.
But he said both men would have to sign the document to "clear the way" for talks.
The MDC still has several conditions to be met before starting substantive talks with Mr Mugabe.
Party spokesman George Sibotshiwe told the BBC that future talks would remain conditional on a complete cessation of violence and the release of all political prisoners.
"We want a government that creates a platform for us to democratise our society, in order for us to have a genuinely free and fair election," he said.
The MDC says at least 120 of its supporters have been killed, about 5,000 abducted and 200,000 forced from their homes since the first round of the elections, in a campaign of violence by pro-Mugabe militias and the army.
Cabinet ministers have denied the charges.
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