ZIMBABWE:The battered and slightly rusty-looking trombones and trumpets of the local brass band struck up just as the battered and slightly rusty-looking Zimbabwe Airlines jet rumbled off the runway and up to the welcoming committee.
It was too much for Robert Mugabe to resist. Yesterday, as the 83-year-old Zimbabwean president stepped of his aircraft and made his way to the waiting motorcade, he paused and then began to shimmy along to the pulsing African jazz blasting across the airport taxiway.
Then he was gone. Mr Mugabe was in Tanzania to attend a special summit of southern African leaders. Journalists' questions about Morgan Tsvangirai's arrest and a looming domestic crisis were left hanging in the air as he climbed into a Mercedes with blackened windows.
It sped off, followed by a heavily armed escort, for the Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete's official residence.
The music, along with grass-skirted dancers, nimble jugglers and athletic tumblers, is likely to be Mr Mugabe's only warm welcome this week.
Last night he had dinner with his 13 colleagues in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) knowing that their quiet diplomacy could soon give way to open hostility.
Today's meeting was supposed to be a gathering of ministers in the humid beachside city of Dar es Salaam. But escalating unrest in Zimbabwe has prompted prime ministers and presidents to gather instead, turning it into a crunch meeting.
They are expected to urge Mr Mugabe to abandon plans to stand for a fresh presidential term in elections scheduled for next year.
Mr Mugabe is expected to blame tensions on an opposition campaign of violence. The government has consistently accused the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of using violence and attacking the police.
No one was giving anything away yesterday. Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Levy Mwanawasa, of Zambia, and Lesotho's prime minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, kept silent as they passed through the airport.
Campaigners said yesterday's arrests should focus their minds on censuring Mr Mugabe. "The government of Zimbabwe has intensified its brutal suppression of its own citizens in an effort to crush all forms of dissent," said Georgette Gagnon, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The crackdown shows the government has extended its attack on political dissent to ordinary Zimbabweans, which should prompt the SADC to act quickly."
European leaders also weighed in. Margaret Beckett, British foreign secretary, said the arrests were designed to silence opposition. "I strongly urge Mugabe and the Zimbabwean regime to heed the calls made by so many of the international community and their African neighbours to stop the oppression of the Zimbabwean people and respect their human rights," she said.
Mr Mugabe has made a virtue of brushing aside condemnation by Zimbabwe's old colonial masters. He may find it harder to ignore criticism closer to home.
In a sign that the veteran freedom fighter may receive a difficult time from his regional colleagues, South Africa voiced concern over Zimbabwe's worsening political climate. Sue van der Merwe, the country's deputy foreign minister, urged Mr Mugabe to be more tolerant of opposition.
"The South African government wishes to express its concern, disappointment and disapproval of the measures undertaken by the security forces in dealing with the political protests," Mr van der Merwe told MPs.
"The South African government calls on the Zimbabwean government to create a climate conducive for political dialogue." South Africa has strongly defended its policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe until now. Politicians have held their tongues during a worsening political and economic crisis during the past few weeks which has seen opposition leaders arrested and assaulted.
Mr Mugabe was seen as a friend of the African National Congress's long campaign against apartheid and few are now prepared to turn on their old ally - at least in public.