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Mozambican, Malawi Leaders to Visit Harare over Land Issue
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and his Malawian counterpart Bakili Muluzi will visit Zimbabwe next month to confer with President Robert Mugabe over the land issue in the southern African country, it was reported Monday night in Maputo.
The decision to hold the summit was taken on Monday at the meeting in the Mozambican port city of Beira between Chissano, Muluzi and their Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe.
The Mozambican president said on Monday that the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is opposed to any form of international sanctions against Zimbabwe over its land reform program.
Chissano said "in the region, we do not want direct or indirect sanctions against Zimbabwe because we would be the first to be affected".
The presidents of Mozambique and Malawi had agreed to support Zimbabwe's land reform program, which Mugabe says will redress skewed land ownership. Some 4,500 white farmers own the bulk of the former British colony's prime farm land while the majority of blacks are crammed into unproductive areas.
Malawian President Muluzi currently serves as the SADC's chairman, while Chissano heads its key political, defense and security cooperation committee.
The Beira summit was a follow-up to a decision by the SADC at its summit in Blantyre early this month to take steps to address the problem, including setting up a task team.
Chissano and Muluzi decided at an African investment meeting held in Kampala a week ago that they needed to meet with Mugabe to discuss the land issue before the task team meets.
The former colonial power, Britain has spearheaded international criticism of Mugabe's land policies.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is scheduled to hold separate talks on September 6 and 7 to mediate between Zimbabwe and Britain under the aegis of the Commonwealth in Abuja.
The Abuja meeting will be attended by foreign ministers from Australia, Britain, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe itself.
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