South African leaders tackle issues of wars

Southern African leaders are gathering in the Malawian business centre to seek ways of ending wars in Congo and Angola and turmoil in Zimbabwe, where ruling party militants have seized hundreds of white-owned farms.

But hopes of bolstering Congo’s peace negotiations hit a snag even before the 14-nation Southern African Development Community’s one-day summit got under way, when President Joseph Kabila declined to meet rebel groups who have been fighting to oust his government.