LEADERS GATHER FOR ZIMBABWE TALKS !

Mr Mugabe has governed Zimbabwe for 27 years Southern African leaders are gathering in Tanzania for two days of emergency talks over the crisis in Zimbabwe. The country's president, Robert Mugabe, will attend the meeting, called by the Southern African Development Community. BBC correspondents say support for Mr Mugabe in the region is waning, after opposition politicians were beaten up while in custody earlier this month. The Zimbabwean leader is expected to blame tensions in his country on an opposition campaign of violence. Frosty reception African leaders have been reluctant to criticise Mr Mugabe in public. They see him as a hero of the fight against colonial rule. But the BBC's Peter Greste, in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, says in private the leaders will give Mr Mugabe a frosty reception. Our correspondent says South African leader Thabo Mbeki in particular is likely to put pressure on Mr Mugabe. South Africa is already taking many refugees from Zimbabwe, and Mr Mbeki will be aware that a complete collapse there would severely affect his own country, our correspondent says. Record inflation The leaders are expected to tell Mr Mugabe, who has governed Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, that he should stand down when his term in office ends next year. Zimbabweans are grappling with the world's highest inflation - 1,700% a year - while unemployment and poverty are widespread. Critics blame the economic meltdown on Mr Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms, while he says he is the victim of a Western plot. The conference in Dar es Salaam, hosted by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, will also focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent fighting between the army and militias in DR Congo has left at least 150 people dead. BBC NEWS REPORT.