Southern African leaders will convene an urgent meeting in Swaziland's capital, Mbabane, 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 the country. Despite the U.N. Security Council's recent condemnation of violence against the opposition and declaration that a free and fair presidential election is not possible, Mugabe remains defiant. 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. Tanzania, Angola, and Swaziland will be represented at the meeting in their roles within the SADC's troika on politics, defense, and security. 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, according to the statement. The meeting will focus on 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 collapse without international intervention. He called on the UN to take stronger actions against President Mugabe, including 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 not only express their disapproval but also to support it with military force, acting as peacekeepers to protect the democratic process. Pressure on Mugabe has intensified from both within Africa and outside due to Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, which is attributed to the president's long tenure. The United States has called on SADC to denounce both the election and Mugabe's government as illegitimate. Angola's state-owned ANGOP news agency reported that 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 its people. The election scheduled for Friday was supposed to be a run-off between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai had won the first round in March, but official results did not give him a clear victory. In March, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change also won a separate parliamentary election, marking the first defeat for Mugabe's ZANU-PF party since gaining independence from Britain in 1980. Both Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and the leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress called for a postponement of Friday's election following Tsvangirai's withdrawal. Zuma, a prominent figure in South Africa and a rival to Mbeki in terms of power, has urged the United Nations and SADC to intervene urgently, stating that the situation in Zimbabwe is spiraling out of control. South Africa, under Mbeki's leadership, has favored a strategy of "quiet diplomacy" with Mugabe and has resisted using its significant economic influence 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. He dismissed the Western criticism as mere noise. Mugabe stated that the elections will continue, and those who choose 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 highest inflation rate in the world of at least 165,000 percent. He attributes his country's economic difficulties to Western sanctions.