By Shapi Shacinda
LUSAKA (Reuters) - Southern African leaders meet onSaturday in an attempt to break the political impasse overZimbabwe's disputed elections and prevent the crisis fromturning violent.
But hopes the Southern African Development Community (SADC)summit in Lusaka will lead to a breakthrough appear slim in theface of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's absence and thegroup's many failures to persuade his government to reform.
Mugabe, still seen as a liberation hero in much of Africa,bristles at criticism and dismisses most detractors as puppetsof former colonial power Britain and the United States.
Although the 84-year-old leader is more deferential to hisAfrican neighbours, he has shown no sign of giving in to thoseurging him to respect the results of the March 29 elections.
The presidential election result has still not beenpublished. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change wonthe parliamentary election and says it won the presidentialpoll. It has gone to court to force officials to release thoseresults.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he could notunderstand why it was taking so long to announce the resultsand that the "international community's patience with theregime is wearing thin".
"The Zimbabwean people have demonstrated their commitmentto democracy," Brown said in a statement. "We, and the leadersof the region, strongly share this commitment."
The political stalemate in Zimbabwe prompted ZambianPresident Levy Mwanawasa to call the summit, earning a rebukefrom Mugabe, who decided not to attend. It is unclear whetherMDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be there.
HOSTILITY
A senior Zimbabwean official reinforced the government'shostility to the meeting.
"We believe this meeting really is not necessary becauseZimbabwe has made it quite clear that they are going toannounce the results," Joey Bimha, Zimbabwe's foreign affairspermanent secretary, was quoted as saying by Zimbabwean statetelevision.
The summit appears the best chance to dissuade Mugabe fromlaunching another crackdown on the opposition. Dozens of MDCactivists and supporters were beaten by police last year in anaborted anti-government protest in the capital Harare.
Fears of a repeat of the violence have risen in the pasttwo weeks whilethe MDC and Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF accuse eachother of preparing for street battles.
Zimbabwean police have banned all political rallies,including one planned by the MDC for Sunday. The opposition hascalled for an indefinite general strike to begin next Tuesdayin the economically devastated nation.
An estimated one-quarter of Zimbabwe's population have fledthe crisis, which is highlighted by inflation of more than100,000 percent and 80 percent unemployment.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said onFriday that Zimbabwe "now stands on the brink".
"SADC must insist that a peaceful and just solution befound to resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe," he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed concernthat the crisis in Zimbabwe would get worse without promptaction, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
There are nagging doubts, if not outright pessimism, thatSADC will be able to get tough on Mugabe.
The 14-nation group has long been seen as toothless in itsresponse to Zimbabwe's political and economic problems.
SADC last year delegated South African President ThaboMbeki to oversee negotiations between Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PFand the MDC in an effort to reach a political agreement thatwould ensure a fair and free election.
The talks failed, prompting a wave of criticism of SADC andMbeki's "quiet diplomacy" tactics.
(Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe, StellaMapenzauswa, Cris Chinaka and Muchena Zigomo; writing by PaulSimao; Editing by Giles Elgood)
