Harare  - South African President Thabo Mbeki touched down in the Zimbabwean capital Harare Saturday evening for talks with the leaders of the country's political parties about their progress in negotiations on a unity government.

Mbeki was met at Harare international airport by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and a number of government ministers.

Mbeki, the Southern African Development Community's mediator in Zimbabwe's political crisis, is scheduled to hold talks with Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara.

His visit to Zimbabwe has stoked speculation the country's three parties - Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the two MDCs - are near agreement on a deal to share power.

Talks between the three parties on a unity government, mooted as a way of ending months of political deadlock and unlocking donor funding for Zimbabwe's reconstruction, have been taking place in South Africa since July 24.

Mbeki will chair a meeting of the three leaders over the course of his visit before returning to South Africa on Sunday, his spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said during the week.

"This (Mbeki's visit) is an important milestone that has been registered in the inter-party dialogue," Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said in the state-controlled Herald newspaper.

Mbeki would consult with the parties on how to advance the dialogue, Charamba said. (dpa)