Ten southern African leaders met under a veil of secrecy Monday at an annual summit where they were slated to tackle the problems of AIDS, poverty and conflicts plaguing the region.
Even top ministers and aides were locked out of the day's meetings, with the presidents rarely seen except walking between rooms. Ministers spent most of the day waiting on the terrace at the hotel while the leaders were meeting.
Two key leaders have stayed away from the summit -- Presidents Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -- even though the wars in their nations were to figure prominently in the talks here.
Malawian officials said the leaders were likely to use their closed-door conclave to discuss Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis with President Robert Mugabe.
South African President Thabo Mbeki and Malawian President Bakili Muluzi had been asked to spearhead the region's effort to talk to Mugabe about his political woes, caused by his violence-wracked land reforms and his crackdown on the opposition, Malawi government spokesman Anthony Livuza told AFP.
Mbeki admitted in an interview with the BBC last week that Mugabe was not listening to him on ending the economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe, which has damaged investor confidence in the entire region.
The depression of Zimbabwe's economy -- once one of the most vibrant in Africa -- has had ripple effects on its smaller neighbors, and South African analysts say it has deterred investors from the region's economic powerhouse.
The member states were also due to choose a new leader for SADC's strategic defense and security organ, where Mugabe had held an open-ended tenure, but officials close to the talks said no decision had been taken by late Monday.
SADC members decided in March to make leadership of the defense organ an elected, one-year position, after Mugabe rattled some members by using SADC's name to justify his military intervention in the DRC.
The then-SADC chief, former South African president Nelson Mandela, had called for negotiations to end the conflict.
Angola and Namibia have also deployed troops to the DRC, but Namibia has announced that it will pull out now that Kabila is moving ahead with efforts at peace.
During the summit, the leaders were considering proposals to combat AIDS, which has hit this region harder than any other, and to reduce poverty. Some 40 percent of the more than 190 million people in southern Africa live in poverty, according to SADC statistics.
But ministers at the summit were tight-lipped about their recommendations to the heads of state on how to combat AIDS and poverty, after their ministerial meetings in the run-up to the summit.
The secrecy surrounding the talks made it unclear exactly which issues the leaders had addressed.
The leaders were due to wrap up their talks and present their decisions on Tuesday.
SADC groups Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. |
