Zimbabwe ? Zimbabwe’s opposition chief would accept the prime minister’s post and concede the presidency – and command of the military – to Robert Mugabe to settle a political crisis in his country, the Associated Press learned Saturday.

Morgan Tsvangirai outlined his proposal for resolving the contentious issue of who would lead any unity government in Zimbabwe in a speech Friday to regional Cabinet ministers gathered for the Southern African Development Community summit. The AP obtained a copy of the speech on Saturday, the day the summit opened.

Tsvangirai’s proposal, which he said his Movement for Democratic Change presented during the deadlocked negotiations with Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, would mean a major curbing of the powers Mugabe has wielded since the country gained independence in 1980.

But it also would leave Tsvangirai working closely with a leader he has reviled as a brutal dictator. After months of attacks on opposition supporters blamed on soldiers and police, the prospect of Mugabe remaining commander in chief was worrisome to some.