South African Bishops Urge Mediation in Zimbabwe

(10 April 08-RV) The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference issued a statement today saying that the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe calls for international attention and mediation that is credible.
Yesterday Zambia called the emergency summit to discuss the crisis in the country following the delay in releasing results of the March 29 presidential election. Zimbabwe announced Robert Mugabe will attend the meeting of southern African leaders, but made clear that he had not called for intervention. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has accused Mugabe of implementing a defacto military coup to keep himself in power. Dennis Benton of the Zimbabwe Vigil says he doubts any action will result from the summit…