Officials have announced that leaders from Southern Africa will convene in Swaziland's capital Mbabane for an emergency meeting to address the crisis in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called on the United Nations to isolate President Robert Mugabe and deploy a peacekeeping force in Zimbabwe. Despite the U.N. Security Council's recent condemnation of violence against the opposition and declaration that a free and fair presidential election is impossible, Mugabe remains defiant. The meeting in Mbabane has been organized by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in response to international pressure for Mugabe to address the political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe. The leaders of Tanzania, Angola, and Swaziland will attend the meeting in their capacity as the SADC's troika organ on politics, defense, and security, according to a statement from the Tanzanian government. The statement mentioned that President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who is the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe, have been invited to the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how the SADC and its troika can assist Zimbabwe in resolving its current conflict. Tsvangirai, who has sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare, expressed concern that Zimbabwe would face further problems if the international community did not intervene. He called on the U.N. to take stronger action, including isolating President Mugabe and deploying a force to protect the people. Tsvangirai stated that although armed conflict is not desired, the people of Zimbabwe require strong condemnation from global leaders to be supported by the moral authority of military intervention. He emphasized that the military force would serve as peacekeepers rather than troublemakers, protecting the people from their oppressors and safeguarding the democratic process that Zimbabwe desires. Pressure on Mugabe has been mounting from both within and outside Africa due to Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, which is attributed by the West and the opposition to the 84-year-old president's 28-year rule. 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 there was a "climate of extreme violence" in Zimbabwe and that the government needed to protect the people. The vote scheduled for Friday was supposed to be a run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai had won the first round in March, but official figures did not declare an outright victory for him. 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, who is seen as one of South Africa's most influential figures alongside Mbeki, has urged the United Nations and SADC to intervene urgently in the crisis in Zimbabwe, which he described as being out of control. South Africa, led by Mbeki, has traditionally favored a strategy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Mugabe and has resisted using its economic power over Zimbabwe. However, Zuma, who replaced Mbeki as leader of the ANC in December, has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of Mugabe. Despite pressure from the international community, Mugabe remains defiant and has stated that the upcoming election will proceed as planned. "Mugabe stated that the elections will continue regardless of whether people acknowledge their legitimacy. Those who support us can do so, while those who do not support us do not have to," said Mugabe. 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 problems to Western sanctions.