Leaders to consider Zimbabwe crisis at AU summit

By Cynthia Johnston

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - African leaders are expected to press President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday to negotiate with Zimbabwe's opposition but are unlikely to punish his government for holding a discredited presidential election.

Mugabe, 84, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Sunday after election authorities announced he had won a landslide victory in a one-candidate presidential run-off ballot condemned as violent and unfair by monitors.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the vote.

Most African leaders have trod a fine line on Zimbabwe's political crisis with only a few criticizing Mugabe, still seen by many in Africa as a hero of the anti-colonial struggle.

The possibility of political violence in the aftermath of the election has prompted the African Union to consider the crisis at its summit this week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Mugabe is among the leaders attending the meeting.

Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission and Africa's top diplomat, told journalists on Monday that the Zimbabwe election would be discussed on Tuesday.

A senior delegate, however, told Reuters the leaders would err on the side of caution. "They will dodge the bullet. They won't expressly recognize him, but they won't kick him out of the session."