Southern African leaders have pledged to mobilise international opinion to seek a peaceful solution to Zimbabwe's land crisis, Tanzania's president said on Tuesday. "A task force comprising of leaders from Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique met to help form an understanding of the nature of the land issue," President Benjamin Mkapa was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

The leaders met on Monday on the sidelines of a meeting of Malaysian, African and Caribbean government and business leaders near the Ugandan capital, Kampala, according to the report. They were part of a task force created at last week's Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit to deal with Zimbabwe's land crisis because of fears that it is affecting the entire region's economy. Mkapa said South African President Thabo Mbeki, Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, Zimbabwe Vice-President Joseph Msika and Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob had discussed the land issue.

Meanwhile, SADC agriculture ministers are set to meet in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, on Saturday to discuss ways of dealing with anticipated food shortages among SADC states, according to a senior South African official in the Department of Agriculture. He told IRIN on Tuesday that it was still not clear who would attend the meeting from South Africa. However, the summit last week ordered the region's agriculture ministers to meet as soon as possible find solutions to the food shortages.