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HARARE - Southern African foreign ministers meeting on Zimbabwe's political crisis on Wednesday have resisted sanctions which they said would worsen the plight of the country's poor population.

"It...remains our conviction that any kind of sanctions on Zimbabwe would not only affect negatively the ordinary, poor vulnerable citizens of Zimbabwe but also their counterparts in the whole of our region," said team leader and Malawian Foreign Minister Lilian Patel.

Their discussions on sanctions came as Commonwealth foreign ministers expressed deep concern in London over Mugabe's crackdown on opponents in Zimbabwe but ignored a British call for its immediate suspension from the 54-nation organisation.

Zimbabwe foreign affairs officials said earlier that the meeting of southern African ministers would review Mugabe's compliance with the Abuja Agreement, a deal brokered by Nigeria under which Harare pledged to end the seizure of white-owned farms in return for funding for orderly land reform.

Farmers accuse Mugabe of largely ignoring the deal. Nine white farmers have died and scores of black farm workers have been assaulted in attacks by pro-government militants in the past two years.

The farm violence has run alongside political clashes ahead of presidential elections on March 9-10. Mugabe, who turns 78 next month, faces his stiffest challenge since coming to power on independence from Britain 22 years ago.

The Commonwealth meeting came two days after European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to impose a travel ban on the top 20 individuals in Mugabe's inner circle and their families and to freeze their foreign assets if Zimbabwe prevented the deployment of EU election observers to the March poll.

Mugabe, who has accused Britain of orchestrating a campaign to demonise his country, said he would accept foreign election observers -- except for Britons.

"It is...our appeal to all interested parties that we should give Zimbabwe a chance to work on an appropriate schedule that would allow all observers it wishes to invite for the forthcoming presidential election," Patel said on Wednesday.

The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) task force on Zimbabwe includes the foreign ministers of Mozambique, Malawi, Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

South Africa, the strongest regional power, is increasingly concerned about instability in Zimbabwe.

On Wednesday, a day after President Thabo Mbeki had met South African business, religious and labour leaders, his office said in a statement: "The meeting agreed that South Africa should do everything possible to ensure that the elections take place in a peaceful environment and that they are free and fair." Nampa-Reuters

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