Harare/Pretoria  - Zimbabweans reacted sceptically Tuesday to conflicting reports out of a Southern African summit about a possible breakthrough in the four-month standoff between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

"It doesn't look good from here," said John Makumbe, a political scientist at the University of Harare in Zimbabwe. "It appears Tsvangirai came under extreme pressure to make concessions, and that there was minimal pressure on Mugabe.

"We'll see when the MDC (Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change) national executive meets at the weekend. They're likely to throw out the whole thing," Makumbe said.

Earlier, the MDC blasted as "malicious" assurances given by Zimbabwe's neighbours at the end of a 12-hour summit in South Africa that the party had overcome its misgivings and agreed to join Mugabe in a power-sharing government.

"It's completely malicious," Joseph Mungwari, spokesman for Tsvangirai told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"There was no agreement," Joseph Mungwari said. But in a statement the MDC was much less emphatic, saying that while the outcome fell "far short of our expectations," the agreement would be put to the party's top body.

After the talks between nine heads of state and government from the 15-nation SADC and senior officials from the five other members, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salamao, reading from a communique, said: "the prime minister (Tsvangirai) and the deputy prime ministers shall be sworn in by February 11, 2009."

The swearing-in of ministers from Mugabe's Zanu-PF and two factions of the MDC would take place two days later, ending the process of the formation of the inclusive government, according to SADC.

Remaining sticking points in the implementation of September's power-sharing accord, which sees Mugabe remain president, would be dealt with afterwards, SADC said.

When asked whether the MDC had agreed, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said: "Yes, of course they will ensure that the amendment 19 (that makes Tsvangirai prime minister) is enacted."

Motlanthe also maintained that the MDC had given in to a SADC proposal that it share control of the home affairs ministry with Mugabe's Zanu-PF. The ministry was hotly disputed by the two.

Before the summit, the MDC had balked at Mugabe's proposal for the distribution of cabinet posts between the parties. The MDC also been demanding that dozens of its members that have been arbitrarily detained or disappeared in recent months be released.

The extraordinary SADC summit, SADC's third such summit on Zimbabwe in under a year, comes as Zimbabwe's health and economic crises spill over into the region.

At least 33 people have died of cholera in South Africa in recent months as sick, hungry Zimbabweans stream across the border. Zimbabwe's own death toll is close to
3,000 since August, when the outbreak began in crowded townships. Half the population of around 11 million requires food aid.

European Union slapped sanctions on more of his allies and allied companies Monday, citing the regime's "ongoing failure to address the most basic economic and social needs of its people."

Reacting to the summit outcome, Phillip Kwaragaza, a pastor, in Harare said: "Our president is too hard a nut for SADC to crack. SADC cannot help. We now depend on God to intervene, like he did with the Israelites." (dpa)