A delegation representing the Southern African Development Community arrived in Harare on Tuesday for discussions with President Robert Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and and election officials, while African Union foreign ministers gathered in Arusha, Tanzania to consider the AU's role in the Zimbabwean crisis.
Angolan Foreign Minister Mathendele Dlamini and Tomas Salomao, SADC executive secretary, were leading the delegation, Angolan state media reported.
Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe told journalists earlier in Dar es Salaam that the AU Peace and Security Council would look extensively at the post-election crisis in Zimbabwe, seeking ways to help bring it to a peaceful resolution.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile called on SADC to "fast-track" its mediation in Zimbabwe's post-election crisis, SABC reported. Ban is in discussions with SADC and AU officials as to a possible U.N. role.
Political analyst Chris Maroleng of South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies told reporter Ntungamnili Nkomo that the African Union seems likely to seek a leading role in observing the presidential run-off election Zimbabwean authorities have called.