A UN official says Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party and the opposition have agreed in principle on landmark talks to end the protracted political crisis, with a pact expected to be signed imminently.
The United Nations' special representative to Zimbabwe, Haile Menkerios says the draft on the negotiating framework has been agreed by President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, describing it as a first step.
Although parties involved in the talks have expressed hope of an agreement being signed later today, Tsvangirai's personal spokesman and a spokesman for mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki have not confirmed this.
But a spokesman for African Union commission chairman Jean Ping, also in Zimbabwe for meetings, says Tsvangirai has given an assurance the Movement for Democratic Change will sign the agreement.