JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki will visit Zimbabwe this weekend to meet the country’s political rivals, his government said Friday, amid signs power-sharing talks have moved closer to a deal.

The trip by Mbeki, who mediates in negotiations between President Robert Mugabe’s party and the Zimbabwe opposition, comes after more than two weeks of discussions in South Africa between representatives of the rival sides.

“He’s going Saturday to meet the leaders of the political parties involved in the SADC-mandated talks facilitated by South Africa,” foreign ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said, referring to the Southern African Development Community regional bloc.

Mbeki, who returns on Sunday, will meet Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, as well as the leader of a smaller MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, the spokesman said.

It was unclear, however, whether the meetings would be held separately or in one session.

A spokesman for Mutambara told AFP that all three Zimbabwean leaders would  meet soon in Harare. Edwin Mushoriwa said negotiators were expected to return home from South Africa on Friday and the meeting would take place afterwards.

South African newspaper Business Day reported that Mugabe and Tsvangirai will meet Sunday as the two sides draw nearer to a power-sharing agreement.

Mbeki’s trip comes ahead of Zimbabwe’s Heroes’ Day on Monday, which commemorates fighters who died in the guerrilla war that led to independence in 1980.

Mugabe himself was seen as a liberation hero in the war and was propelled  into power afterwards, where he has remained ever since.

The 84-year-old was re-elected in a June 27 presidential run-off that was widely condemned as a sham after Tsvangirai dropped out of the race, citing violence against his supporters that had killed dozens and injured
thousands.

Tsvangirai finished ahead of Mugabe in the March first round of the election, and the two sides entered power-sharing talks following a July 21 deal laying the framework for negotiations.

In a sign the two sides were moving closer to an agreement, the parties issued a joint statement earlier this week calling on their supporters to halt political violence.

The main sticking points in the talks are believed to involve what roles Mugabe and Tsvangirai would play in a power-sharing government.

Tsvangirai believes his first-round total gives him the right to the lion’s  share of power, but sources in his party said previously that Mugabe’s negotiators had so far only offered him one of several vice-presidential
posts.

The ruling ZANU-PF party has insisted Mugabe must be recognised as president as part of any deal, since he won the June 27 vote.

But pressure, both internationally and regionally, has built on Mugabe to reach a deal, analysts say, making it likely an accord is within reach. The dire economic situation could also force Mugabe’s hand, with Zimbabwe facing the world’s highest inflation rate and major food shortages.

“For ZANU-PF, it’s a matter of political survival,” said Eldred Masunungure, a political scientist from the University of Zimbabwe. “ZANU-PF has been put into a corner by domestic and international pressure,
and that corner is shrinking.”