Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition were set to sign a pivotal deal today that would pave the way for fully-fledged talks on resolving the country's protracted political crisis.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said an agreement would be inked this afternoon, laying out a framework within which negotiations would be held under the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki.

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"The signing will take place this afternoon," Chinamasa, who is also the chief negotiator for President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, told AFP.

A source from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, asking not to be named, confirmed that "the MOU (memorandum of understanding) is going to be signed this afternoon".

The move towards substantive negotiations comes after a series of meetings between Mbeki, the rival parties and officials from the United Nations and African Union.

Mbeki is to fly to Harare today for the signing of the deal, his office said.

UN special representative to Zimbabwe Haile Menkerios and African Union commission chairman Jean Ping, who met with the parties over the weekend, expressed confidence the pact would be signed for talks to go ahead.

Ping's spokesman Elghassim Wane said "he is hopeful that a memorandum of understanding, which will outline the talks agenda and ground rules, will be signed (Monday) with the MDC being part of it."

Menkerios said the draft, once signed, would clear the way for actual talks on the future of the crisis-ridden country to take place.

The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) which mandated Mbeki to mediate the Zimbabwe crisis in March 2007, said it hoped the talks would yield a result before a meeting of the bloc's leaders in August.

"Our hope is to see Zimbabwe's problems resolved even before the summit next month in South Africa," the head of the organisation's politics, defence and security organ, Tanki Mothae, said.

"Our hope is that they will agree on a principle ... that talks will go ahead and all other issues that are provided for in the MoU should be implemented," Mothae told South African public radio.

"It is our hope that they will live up to their commitments."

International pressure for the parties to negotiate intensified after Mugabe won a one-man presidential run-off, after it had been boycotted by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai due to a wave of deadly attacks against his supporters.

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 opposition leader, who has rejected the idea of a national unity government in favour of a transitional phase leading to fresh elections, told today's edition of the Johannesburg-based Star newspaper: "Wait and see if we will sign, I don't know."

His spokesman indicated there had been concerns with the initial draft of the agreement. Tsvangirai is demanding the release of political prisoners, the cessation of violence and an additional mediator from the AU.
"We are waiting to be told what's going to happen. We are waiting to hear from the South Africans," said Tsvangirai's personal spokesman George Sibotshiwe.