Zimbabwe rival agrees unity plan

Morgan Tsvangirai would become prime minister under the deal

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said his party will join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe next month.

The deal, proposed by Southern African leaders, would see Mr Tsvangirai sworn in as prime minister on 11 February.

A power-sharing deal between his MDC party and Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF was signed last September, but got bogged down in increasingly bitter disputes.

The new timetable was proposed by the Southern African Development Community.

"We are unequivocal, we will go into this government," MrTsvangirai was quoted by French news agency AFP as saying.

"The SADC (Southern African Development Community) has decided and we are bound by that decision." The MDC had earlier said that the outcome of the latest SADC summit fell "far short" of its expectations.

The BBC's Southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says that agreeing to the deal requires a leap of faith for the MDC, which has no trust in Mr Mugabe.

But the decision to commit itself was the only realistic option short of abandoning plans for a unity government, he says.

Joint committee

The wrangling over power-sharing has paralysed Zimbabwe's government for months.

Zimbabwe is suffering from rampant inflation, an escalating food crisis and an outbreak of cholera.

SADC's POWER-SHARE TIMELINE 5 Feb: Zimbabwe to pass power-sharing constitutional amendment 11 Feb: PM-designate Tsvangirai and his deputies to be sworn in 13 Feb: Remaining ministers and their deputies to take office

Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the MDC also agreed on Friday to set up a joint committee to monitor the power-sharing pact.

The body is the first structure to be formed as a result of political agreement, according to South African mediator Sydney Mufamadi.

The move appeared to be a further sign that the political rivals might be close to implementing their power-sharing agreement, which was signed in September.

The committee would deal with any breaches in the power-sharing deal and could also address concerns the MDC may have about the arrest of party members and activists.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who chaired an emergency summit this week to get a deal, said the MDC was committed to a timeline agreed by the parties.

This would see MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai sworn in as prime minister on February 11.

Our correspondent says it is clear Mr Tsvangirai has come under a lot of pressure to agree to a deal that the MDC does not fully support.