JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17 (AFP): Southern African leaders were gathering Sunday for the final day of a summit overshadowed by Zimbabwe's crisis, amid a push for a deal between the country's rivals before the meeting wraps up.
The leaders were expected to meet behind closed doors to discuss Zimbabwe in detail, one minister attending the proceedings told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Discussions were to include a report from South African President Thabo Mbeki, the regionally appointed mediator for Zimbabwe, and from a troika of nations responsible for security in the region, according to the minister.
Leaders from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) could then decide whether to take action over the Zimbabwe crisis, the minister added.
At the summit's opening on Saturday, Mbeki raised the possibility of a settlement before the close of the meeting.
SADC's troika on security issues also agreed late Friday that a deal to resolve the crisis should be signed during the summit, a foreign minister who attended the meeting told AFP. The body includes Angola, Tanzania and Swaziland.
But major sticking points to a settlement were said to remain, and it was unclear whether they could be overcome before summit leaders left Johannesburg.
Zimbabwe's crisis overshadowed much of the summit's first day, with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's participation controversial after his re-election in a June poll widely condemned as a sham.
Zambian Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande, speaking at the summit, harshly criticised Mugabe's re-election, calling it a "blot on the culture of democracy".
Pande was speaking on behalf of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who remains hospitalised after suffering a stroke in June. Mwanawasa has previously said it was "scandalous for SADC to remain silent on Zimbabwe".
