Leaders to press Mugabe at summit
African leaders are expected to press President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday to negotiate with Zimbabwe's opposition but are unlikely to punish his government for holding a discredited presidential election.
Clinton under pressure as Ohio and Texas voteMugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after election authorities announced he had won a landslide victory in a one-candidate presidential run-off ballot condemned as violent and unfair by monitors.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the vote.
Most African leaders have trod a fine line on Zimbabwe's political crisis with only a few criticising Mugabe, still seen by many in Africa as a hero of the anti-colonial struggle.
The possibility of political violence in the aftermath of the election has prompted the African Union to consider the crisis at its summit this week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Mugabe is among the leaders attending the meeting.
Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission and Africa's top diplomat, told journalists on Monday that the Zimbabwe election would be discussed on Tuesday.
A senior delegate, however, told Reuters the leaders would err on the side of caution. "They will dodge the bullet. They won't expressly recognise him, but they won't kick him out of the session."
The summit appeared to be opposed to a U.S.-led push at the United Nations for strong sanctions against Mugabe's government, including an arms embargo. The United States and Britain have imposed financial and travel sanctions against the Zimbabwean leader and his top officials.
Conference sources said countries from east and west Africa wanted to take a strong stand but Mugabe's southern African neighbours were divided.
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