South African President Thabo Mbeki said he believed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe would step down peacefully and that the chief challenge for the region was ensuring fair elections next year in Zimbabwe.
Mr Mbeki told today's Financial Timeshe had started mediation following his appointment last week by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to spearhead efforts to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis.
Asked if the Mugabe (83) - accused of electoral abuses and economic mismanagement by the opposition - would eventually stand down, Mr Mbeki said he believed he would.
He said: "I think so. Yes, sure . . . you see, President Mugabe and the leadership of [the ruling] ZANU-PF believe they are running a democratic country.
"That's why you have an elected opposition, that's why it's possible for the opposition to run municipal government [in Harare and Bulawayo]," Mr Mbeki said.
The SADC appointed Mbeki to act as mediator between Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) when it held a summit in Tanzania last week after the Zimbabwe government's violent March 11th crackdown on political opponents.
The South African leader dismissed suggestions that Zimbabwe's neighbours could force change in the country. "We don't have a big stick," he said, adding a joint approach by African leaders could pave the way to a settlement.
Mr Mbeki said his office had already been in contact with both of the MDC's main factions and ZANU-PF to draw up a negotiating framework for next year's elections, in which Mugabe has already been endorsed as the ZANU-PF candidate.
Mr Mbeki said the future talks would likely focus on MDC demands for legal and electoral reforms, including the repeal of strict media and security laws, which critics say Mugabe has used to entrench his power in the country.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said in Johannesburg he would be willing to commit to any election that could be guaranteed free and fair but that it would require quick action from Mr Mbeki to create the appropriate conditions.