The embattled President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mr Laurent Kabila, arrived yesterday for a two-day summit on the rebellion spreading through his country. Mr Kabila made no comment as he arrived at the resort in western Zimbabwe.
He had earlier met a delegation of South African ministers in the DRC's second city, Lubumbashi, for talks on the crisis.
Rebels have seized control of much of the east of the DRC since launching their revolt last weekend, and tensions have also flared between Mr Kabila and his erstwhile ally, Rwanda.
The DRC president accused Rwanda of backing the rebels and threatened to take the war into the neighbouring country, raising fears of a cross-border conflict.
The President of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe, hosting the summit, said as he arrived that he was "confident of a lasting peaceful solution" and ruled out military intervention in the DRC by southern African states.
He also said he hoped the crisis would not spread to other countries.
The summit, which was to begin late yesterday, was gathering together the leaders of Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the DRC.
Only the Ugandan President, Mr Yoweri Museveni, had not arrived by late afternoon for the emergency summit.
Earlier yesterday, the Rwandan President, Mr Pasteur Bizimungu, denied involvement in the rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo and warned he would not tolerate any attack on his own country.
"Rwanda is not involved in what is happening . . . in the Congo," Mr Bizimungu told reporters at the end of a state visit to Zambia.
But he said if Mr Kabila - whom his government helped to bring to power last year -attacked Rwanda, he would retaliate.
"I understand that [Kabila] has declared war with my army and my people. Of course, if we are provoked, we will be involved," Mr Bizimungu said.
Mr Kabila told the Congolese people to prepare for a "long war" with Rwanda. Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, yesterday urged regional leaders to help ensure that civilians in the DRC were protected from violence as a Tutsi-led rebellion spreads.
Mrs Robinson said in a statement that there had been reports of looting and burning of shops targeting "certain segments of the population" in the capital Kinshasa.
According to UN sources, she was referring to attacks against a number of Tutsi civilians by the population at large.
The attacks were apparently encouraged by the authorities, the sources added.
"There are also indications that ethnically motivated violence is taking place in other parts of the country as the armed conflict spreads," Mrs Robinson said.