Mugabe skips summit on Zimbabwe’s crisis

LUSAKA, Zambia – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe skipped a regional summit Saturday on the deepening crisis over the country’s contentious presidential election.

At the summit, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa urged his counterparts to “focus on helping Zimbabwe to find an answer that generally reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people.”

Mwanawasa said he called the summit because of the failure of Zimbabwean officials to publish the March 29 election results.

The meeting ended just before dawn today with a declaration that called for speedy verification of election results in the presence of the candidates or their agents “within the rule of law.” The declaration also urged “all parties to accept the results when they are announced.”