Deal May Be Close in Zimbabwe

(11 Sept 08 - RV) Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe Wednesday emerged from daylong negotiations to say he hoped to sign a power-sharing deal with the opposition as early as Thursday, and his main rival also said an agreement was close.

Morgan Tsvangirai has insisted on being head of government and chairing Cabinet meetings, with Mugabe in the largely ceremonial position of head of state. But Mugabe is unwilling to surrender much of the power he has wielded since independence from Britain in 1980.

Gunther Simmermacher is the editor of the Southern Cross, a Catholic weekly in South Africa. He says the deal  may give Mugabe a chance to make a dignified exit…