Zimbabwe said today it was prepared to brief an emergency summit of southern African leaders on the situation in the country, but did not indicate whether President Robert Mugabe would attend.

THE Zimbabwe opposition’s bid to build up pressure on Robert Mugabe, after disputed polls bore fruit yesterday as plans were unveiled for a weekend summit to discuss the escalating crisis.

Southern African leaders meeting this week were likely to be preoccupied with the economic and political crises in Zimbabwe that are sending thousands of refugees into neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Zimbabwe’s neighbours are under increasing pressure to do something about its chaos – in part because it is already spilling over in the form of migrants fleeing economic collapse and political clampdown.

The Zambian president’s re-election bid was declared successful after a bitter campaign and violent protests following his victory at the polls.

The brother of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa was found dead in a hotel room in Pretoria today, South African police said.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has declared the nation’s food crisis a national disaster and has appealed for urgent international aid to help four million of his people avoid starvation.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has declared the nation’s food crisis a national disaster and asked for urgent international aid to help the four million people threatened with starvation.

Levy Mwanawasa has been sworn in as Zambian president, capping a hotly contested election marred by street riots sparked by opposition allegations that the ruling party rigged the vote.