Maputo - Hopes were high for a breakthrough in negotiations to end months of political unrest in Madagascar as the island's interim leader Andry Rajoelina and three former presidents met for a second day of landmark talks in Mozambique on Thursday.

Rajoelina and his rival Marc Ravalomanana met face-to-face in Maputo Wednesday for the first time since Rajoelina forced Ravalomanana from office in March after weeks of military-backed demonstrations.

They were joined from France by exiled ex-dictator Didier Ratsiraka and from Madagascar by another former president, Albert Zafy.

"The first day of negotiations went on very nicely," chief mediator, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano, said. "When you see people shaking hands and sharing a table. that means they understand each other."

"What I sense is that they (the leaders) have narrowed their differences on the critical issues," Chissano added, expressing hopes of a breakthrough by the end of the talks Friday.

Annick Ratsiraka, Didier Ratsiraka's daughter, told the German Press Agency dpa the negotiations were going "fairly well" and that parties were hopeful of clinching an agreement.

The island of around 20 million people, mostly subsistence farmers, has been wracked by protests - initially against Ravalomanana, now against Rajoelina - since January.

Both SADC and the African Union have suspended Madagascar from their ranks, saying Rajoelina's rout of the democratically-elected Ravalomanana was tantamount to a coup.

The broader international community has also refused to recognize Rajoelina's leadership.

The Maputo meeting is aimed at forging consensus between the parties on how to move beyond the impasse, including the formation of a new, inclusive transitional government and the drafting of a new constitution.

Rajoelina has said he is open to a negotiated solution but is refusing to allow Ravalomanana, who was convicted in absentia of abuse of office and sentenced to four years in prison, return to the island.(dpa)