"There will be a meeting in three days. In the short term what we would want to see is that those involved on the side of the rebels and those on the side of the government of Laurent Kabila meet to discuss the terms of peace," he told reporters.
The summit at Victoria Falls will include Kabila's military allies Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia as well as rebel leaders and Uganda and Rwanda, accused by Kabila of supporting them.
The apparent diplomatic breakthrough followed an emergency meeting of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community.
Mugabe boycotted a special SADC meeting called by Mandela in Pretoria two weeks ago that called for a ceasefire and a freezing of troops positions.
"There are many difficulties we are facing now on the ground militarily...but our goal remains the same, to liberate the country," Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, vice president of the rebels' political wing, the Congolese Democratic Coalition, said.
Kabila accuses Rwanda and Uganda, who helped him overthrow dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in May last year, of supporting the rebels and committing mass murder.
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