Officials have announced that Southern African leaders will convene an emergency meeting in Swaziland's capital Mbabane on Wednesday to address the crisis in Zimbabwe. Prior to this, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called on the United Nations to isolate President Robert Mugabe and suggested the need for a peacekeeping force in Zimbabwe. Despite the U.N. Security Council's recent decision to condemn violence against the opposition and deem a free and fair presidential election on Friday impossible, Mugabe remains defiant. The meeting in Mbabane has been organized by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in response to increasing international pressure on Mugabe to resolve the political and economic chaos in Zimbabwe. The leaders of Tanzania, Angola, and Swaziland will participate in the meeting as representatives of the SADC's troika organ on politics, defense, and security, according to a statement from the Tanzanian government. The statement mentioned that the current SADC chairman, President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, and the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, have been invited to attend the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how the SADC and its troika organ on politics, defense, and security can assist Zimbabwe in resolving its current conflict. Tsvangirai, who has sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare after withdrawing from the election, warned that Zimbabwe would face further turmoil without international intervention. He called on the U.N. to take stronger action against Mugabe, including implementing a force to protect the people. Tsvangirai stated that while they do not desire armed conflict, the people of Zimbabwe require global leaders to move beyond mere words of condemnation and take decisive action through military force. He emphasized that such a force would serve as peacekeepers, protecting the people from their oppressors and safeguarding the democratic process that Zimbabwe longs for. Pressure on Mugabe has escalated from both within and outside Africa due to the country's political and economic turmoil, with the West and opposition attributing the crisis to the long-standing leadership of the 84-year-old president. The United States has called on SADC to denounce both the election and Mugabe's government as illegitimate. According to Angola's state-run ANGOP news agency, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao stated that foreign ministers agreed during a meeting on Monday that Zimbabwe was experiencing a "climate of extreme violence," and that the government needed to ensure the protection of its people. The planned run-off election on Friday was supposed to be between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, with the latter having won the first round in March but without an outright victory according to official figures. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change also won a parallel parliamentary election in March, marking the first defeat for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party since independence from Britain in 1980. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and the leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress both called for a postponement of Friday's election following Tsvangirai's withdrawal. Zuma, considered one of the most influential figures in South Africa alongside Mbeki, has urged the United Nations and SADC to take immediate action due to the escalating situation in Zimbabwe. Despite Mbeki's approach of "quiet diplomacy" with Mugabe and reluctance to use economic influence, Zuma, who replaced Mbeki as ANC leader, has been vocal in his criticism of Mugabe. Mugabe, however, remains defiant and dismissed the pressure from the West during a rally in Zimbabwe, insisting that the upcoming election will proceed as planned. Mugabe stated that the elections will continue as planned, and those who wish to acknowledge their legitimacy can do so, while those who do not should refrain. Mugabe has overseen a decline into economic turmoil, with 80 percent unemployment and the world's highest inflation rate of at least 165,000 percent. He attributes his country's economic difficulties to Western sanctions.