President Mugabe, under heavy local and international pressure to step down, has called for a constitutional amendment that will allow an interim President to be appointed by his Zanu PF party and pave the way for fresh elections for a new government.

Authoritative sources in Johannesburg said this was the message that had been communicated to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who is seen as a key player in delicate manoeuvres towards a transition from a dictatorship to democratic rule in Zimbabwe.

It is understood that Mugabe wants his long-time personal aide, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to be the interim President, although this could not be confirmed.

Mbeki is scheduled to lead a three-member, high-powered team to Harare within the next two weeks to iron out Mugabe's proposed exit plan, according to the sources.

Mbeki's delegation will comprise Presidents Bakili Muluzi of Malawi and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria.

The Sunday Times of Johannesburg reports that South African officials want the three African heads of state to keep the momentum going following Mugabe's positive signals in an interview on ZTV last week.

In the interview to mark Zimbabwe's 23rd independence anniversary, Mugabe hinted that he was considering stepping down as land redistribution that he had so much wanted to see implemented had been addressed.

The three leaders are expected to work out a safe exit plan for Mugabe that will make him immune from prosecution for human rights abuses committed during his 23-year rule.

Mugabe is particularly worried about the Matabeleland and Midlands massacres of the mid-1980s after he unleashed the Korean-trained 5 Brigade, led by the now Air Force of Zimbabwe boss, Perence Shiri, on the people of those provinces in suppressing an armed dissident uprising.

Thousands of innocent civilians died in what is now referred to as the Gukurahundi atrocities.

Mugabe has not apologised officially to the people of Matabeleland and Midlands for the atrocities, although he expressed regret for "the madness" at Vice-President Joshua Nkomo's burial in 1999.

The Sunday Times quotes Zanu PF insiders as saying Mugabe is concerned about "the future of his family and property, his party's simmering succession problems, a possible power vacuum after his departure and subsequent infighting within Zanu PF".

The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, a key player in any power transition, is on record as saying that Mugabe's security after he steps down will only be guaranteed in the context of a negotiated settlement of the current Zimbabwe crisis.

Mugabe has stated that he is prepared to talk to the opposition leader if he drops his election results court challenge and recognises him as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai has flatly refused to agree to those conditions.

Mugabe won the presidential election last year in controversial circumstances. The poll was condemned internationally as being fraught with irregularities and glaring rigging.