By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe and oppositionleader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday they have madeprogress in power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe and are to addressoutstanding issues on Wednesday.
A deal to form an all-inclusive government would end twomonths of wrangling and help ease a post-election crisis thatis worsening Zimbabwe's economic decline.
A new round of talks began in Harare on Monday betweenMugabe's ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai's MDC party and a breakaway MDCfaction, but prospects had looked bleak.
A senior ZANU-PF official accused the MDC on Tuesday of"trying to put spanners in the works", while Tsvangirai said onSunday he would rather quit talks than sign a bad deal.
But after several hours of meetings led by South AfricanPresident Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday, the rivals appeared hopeful adeal was in sight.
"As you are aware these talks have been dragging on forsome time now, but I must say that there is a positivedevelopment," Tsvangirai told reporters as he left the Hararehotel after hours of negotiation, without giving more details.
"Nothing has been concluded yet but we are hoping thattomorrow (Wednesday) we will be able to look at the outstandingissues."
Mugabe also told reporters that progress had been made.
"We are still going to talk. We are finishing tomorrow(Wednesday)," he said. "There is progress, and lack of it, insome areas," he said, adding that "one or two areas" were stilloutstanding.
Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway MDC faction, waseven more optimistic, saying "tremendous progress" had beenachieved.
"... we hope tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be able to bringfinality and closure to the dialogue process," he said.
Mbeki -- mandated by the region to mediate an end thecrisis -- had presented a proposal sharing executive powers,the main sticking point in the negotiations, the state-runHerald newspaper said.
It also looked at structuring an all-inclusive government.
SADC SUMMIT MOVED?
An MDC source told Reuters four issues remained unresolved,including the contentious issue of who would chair the cabinet,although differences had been narrowed.
The suggested proposal was for ministers to report toTsvangirai as prime minister on a daily basis, but Mugabe wouldstill chair cabinet meetings.
Other issues included the number of ministers for eachparties, which version of the constitution the new governmentadhered to and how long the transitional process would last,the source said.
The defence committee of regional grouping the SADC was dueto meet in Swaziland on Wednesday to discuss the crisis, but asenior Zimbabwe government official said the summit may now bemoved to Harare to celebrate the signing of a power-sharingdeal.
"It looks like it is a done deal. From the way I understandit, a signing ceremony had been provisionally set for tomorrow(Wednesday)," the source, who did not want to be named, said.
"But there are suggestions that this could be delayed a bitand we could see the SADC troika meeting being held here togive pomp and fanfare to the agreement."
The SADC meeting was to include the heads of state fromMozambique, Angola and Swaziland. Mbeki and Mugabe had alsobeen expected to attend.
The MDC leader beat Mugabe in a March 29 presidentialelection but fell short of enough votes to avoid a Junerun-off, which was won by Mugabe unopposed after Tsvangiraipulled out, citing violence and intimidation against hissupporters.
Mugabe's victory in the run-off was condemned around theworld and drew toughened sanctions from Western countries whosesupport is vital for reviving Zimbabwe's ruined economy.
Mbeki has come under repeated fire for not being toughenough with Mugabe, in power since 1980.
Other southern African leaders have taken a harder line,but Mugabe has resisted pressure".
Zimbabweans were hoping the election could produce aleadership able to tackle hyper-inflation and severe food andfuel shortages that have driven millions across the country'sborders, straining regional economies.
(Writing by Gordon Bell and Michael Georgy; Editing by SamiAboudi)
