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 emphasized the need for 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 on Friday was not possible, Mugabe has disregarded the decision. The meeting in Mbabane, organized by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), comes as international pressure mounts on Mugabe to address the political and economic challenges facing Zimbabwe. Leaders from 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 President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, the current SADC chairman, and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe, 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, expressed concern that Zimbabwe would face further difficulties without international intervention. He called for the United Nations to take stronger action against President Mugabe, including isolating him and deploying a force to protect the people. Tsvangirai stated that while they do not desire armed conflict, the people of Zimbabwe require global leaders to follow their words of condemnation with the moral integrity of military intervention. This force would act as peacekeepers, separating the people from their oppressors and protecting the democratic process that Zimbabwe seeks. Pressure on Mugabe has grown from within Africa and beyond due to Zimbabwe's political and economic turmoil, which is attributed by the West and opposition to the 84-year-old president's nearly three-decade-long rule. The United States has called on SADC to denounce both the election and Mugabe's regime as illegitimate. According to Angola's state-run ANGOP news agency, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao stated that foreign ministers agreed at a meeting on Monday that there was a significant level of violence in Zimbabwe and that the government needed to protect its citizens. The election on Friday was supposed to be a run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, with the opposition leader winning the first round in March. Despite official figures not giving him an outright victory, 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 1980. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and the leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress both called for the postponement of Friday's election following Tsvangirai's withdrawal. Zuma, who is considered one of the most powerful figures in South Africa alongside Mbeki, has urged the United Nations and SADC to intervene urgently, stating that the situation in Zimbabwe has spiraled out of control. While Mbeki's administration has favored a policy of "quiet diplomacy" with Mugabe and resisted using South Africa's economic influence over Zimbabwe, Zuma, who replaced Mbeki as ANC leader in December, has been increasingly vocal in his criticism of Mugabe. Despite mounting pressure, Mugabe remains defiant, stating at a rally in western Zimbabwe that the upcoming election will proceed as planned, dismissing criticism from the West. Mugabe stated that the elections will continue, and those who wish to acknowledge their legitimacy can do so, while those who do not want to, should not. 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.