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Regional leaders to meet as Zimbabwe crisis boils
George Obulutsa, Reuters
March 26, 2007

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN655293.html

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Leaders of the southern African regional bloc SADC will hold an extraordinary session in Tanzania this week, Tanzania's Foreign Ministry said on Monday, amid the mounting political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe.

A Tanzanian Foreign Ministry official would not be drawn on the agenda for the meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. Tanzania is one of three SADC states charged with dealing with the situation in Zimbabwe.

"They could discuss Zimbabwe, but what they will be discussing is the general political situation, and they will be looking at where there are problems," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by telephone from Dar es Salaam.

Tanzania said the extraordinary summit was expected to attended by 14 heads of state, including those from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Tensions are high in Zimbabwe over skyrocketing inflation, the highest in the world at over 1,700 percent, shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food and surging unemployment, which critics blame on President Robert Mugabe's mismanagement.

Mugabe in turn blames western nations led by former colonial ruler Britain, which he says want to overthrow him because of his seizure of white-owned commercial farms for landless blacks.

Zimbabwe's police banned political rallies and protests in the capital Harare last month and then riot police clashed with opposition activists as they tried to attend a prayer meeting.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he and colleagues were brutally beaten in police custody following their March 11 arrests over the foiled meeting called to protest against a deepening crisis they blame on Mugabe's government.

Images of a cut and bruised Tsvangirai drew drawn sharp international condemnation of Mugabe's rule, including rare voices of concern from some African leaders.

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