The leaders of Nigeria and South Africa have left Harare for talks in London on whether the Commonwealth should suspend Zimbabwe for what critics say was election fraud by President Mr Robert Mugabe.
Nigeria's Mr Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's Mr Thabo Mbeki will meet Australian Prime Minister Mr John Howard today in a three-nation task force to decide on the Commonwealth response.
Mr Mbeki and Mr Obasanjo yesterday met Mr Mugabe and the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, the official loser in elections last week.
They said they had urged the two rivals to find a way to work together to tackle Zimbabawe's deepening four-year recession, looming famine and political instability.
Asked to confirm reports he was urging Mr Mugabe to form a government of national unity, Mr Mbeki said the responsibility to solve the problems of Zimbabwe was first and foremost with the leadership of Zimbabwe.
Official results showed Mr Mugabe (78), in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980, won 56 per cent of the votes cast.