Talks to finalize the allocation of Cabinet ministries among Zimbabwe's three main political parties will conclude on Wednesday following extensive meetings between Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and former South African leader Thabo Mbeki, in Harare on Tuesday.

Though the three party principals Tuesday night would not be drawn into commenting on the status of the talks, insiders privy to the closed-door discussions said they were confident the matter would be concluded on Wednesday, the official newspaper The Herald said.

The insiders also pointed out that the remaining issue of major debate was the Ministry of Finance and that a number of options had been tabled on how to go around the matter.

It could not be established if the options had been tabled by Mbeki or by one of the three parties to the talks.

Late Tuesday night, President Mugabe said the parties had covered some ground over the course of the day and they would reconvene on Wednesday.

Insiders, however, indicated that a lot of headway had been made. He was confident that they will have reached an agreement by the end of Wednesday, but if that fails Wednesday should see an outcome, a senior MDC-T official said.

In terms of allocation of ministries, there is progress and a number of options on the matter of the Ministry of Finance have been tabled, he said without elaborating.

Another official close to the proceedings said there are a number of options on the table concerning the finance brief. One is that if the minister comes from Zanu-PF, then there should be two deputy ministers, one from Tsvangirai and one from Mutambara.

If the minister is from Tsvangirai's party, then there will be two deputies from Zanu-PF and from MDC Mutambara. However, if the minister is from Mutambara's party, there might not be need to have two deputies as it is more or less agreed among the parties that this would be an acceptable compromise.

Another option is that the ministry is rotated among the parties. This would mean each party would second someone to be Minister of Finance for a period of one year after which he or she would hand over the reins to the next party.

This would be done until such a time where it is felt that arrangement is not necessary but not exceeding a set number of years yet to be decided upon.

The final option is that the three parties agree on an individual with no set political affiliation but from a technical background who is acceptable to everyone involved.

A top Mutambara formation aide said their party was "open to fully discuss any options laid on the table" but could not say if any of these had indeed been put before them.

Earlier in the day soon after arriving at the talks venue at Rainbow Towers, Mutambara urged the parties to expeditiously conclude the talks.

Tsvangirai would not speak to the media upon arriving at the venue while President Mugabe shared a few light moments with journalists.

Mbeki, mandated by SADC and endorsed by the African Union to mediate in Zimbabwe, arrived in Harare on Monday evening to carry on his facilitation of the dialogue process at the request of the political parties.

Last week President Mugabe gazetted the list of ministries assigned to the three parties according to the terms of the broad- based agreement signed by the parties last month.

Under the agreement, Zanu-PF will have 15 ministries while MDC- T and MDC will have 13 and three portfolios each respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2008)