President Clinton flies into the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha today to bolster a peace process aimed at ending seven years of ethnic civil war in the small Central African state of Burundi.
The talks mediator, Mr Nelson Mandela, is hoping Mr Clinton's presence will pressurise Burundi's Hutu and Tutsi political parties into signing a peace deal.
The chances of agreement being reached were high, according to diplomatic observers. However, the absence of the main rebel groups from the talks ruled out the possibility of an immediate ceasefire.
At least 200,000 Burundians have died since 1993 in fighting between Hutu militia and government troops controlled by the ruling Tutsi minority.
The Tutsis came to power in 1996 when the current President, Mr Pierre Buyoya, led a military coup. Making up just 15 per cent of the population - the remainder are mostly Hutu - Tutsis said they feared a repeat of the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, when Hutu extremists killed at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Peace talks started in 1998 under the former Tanzanian president, Dr Julius Nyerere, but became bogged down by political squabbling between the myriad political parties. Then Mr Mandela took over last year following Dr Nyerere's death and injected fresh impetus into the negotiations.
Hutus and Tutsis from 19 political parties were expected to engage in all-night talks to hammer out a settlement in advance of Mr Clinton's arrival yesterday afternoon. Agreement had been reached on 80 per cent of issues by the deadline, according to diplomatic observers.
A transitional national assembly would give strong representation to Tutsis while the army would be evenly split between Hutu and Tutsi soldiers.
However, the critical issues of a ceasefire and who would lead a transitional administration had not been resolved. Tutsis are reluctant to concede power without prior guarantees of a ceasefire.
Fears that violence would flare in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, over the weekend were not realised, adding to optimism that a deal would be reached. But some observers worried that President Clinton's presence could force an unworkable agreement.
"The worst outcome would be if both sides signed something under pressure which they would be unable to honour," a European diplomat said.
And there is universal agreement that any deal signed today will be only the first step in a process of negotiation and reconciliation that will take several years.
Reuters adds:
On the final day of his state visit to Africa's most populous nation, President Clinton took his message of support for Nigeria's fledgling democracy to the ordinary people yesterday, and visited the central farming village of Ushafa.
Two US government trade guarantee and lending agencies signed export accords to the value of $1.2 billion before Mr Clinton met business leaders last night. On Saturday, President Obasanjo asked Mr Clinton to help ease the burden of Nigeria's crushing $28 billion foreign debt.