President Robert Mugabe will boycott a southern African summit on the Zimbabwe crisis, state radio said today, as the opposition called a general strike to press for the release of election results.
Mr Mugabe has signalled a further clampdown in the country with a ban on all political rallies.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called on the 84-year-old president to stand down.
Mr Mugabe, under pressure since the 29 March election that the opposition insists it won, will be represented at the summit in Zambia by four senior ministers.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community has called the summit in a bid to mediate with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose leader, Mr Tsvangirai, has confirmed he will be in Lusaka.
Mr Tsvangirai has appealed to the summit participants to ensure democracy prevails in Zimbabwe.
The sense of crisis in the country, which has an estimated 100,000% inflation and is stricken by grave economic problems, has increased as the government banned all political rallies.
Amid mounting calls from international powers for the release of the election results, Mr Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has said there must be a run-off.
The opposition has ruled out Mr Tsvangirai's participation in any second-round vote, accusing Mr Mugabe of launching a campaign of intimidation that would affect the true democratic result.
Police arrest Tsvangirai's lawyer
Earlier, police in Zimbabwe arrested Mr Tsvangirai's lawyer on charges related to a helicopter hired for the presidential campaign.
Innocent Chagonda, who has represented Mr Tsvangirai in several high-profile cases was arrested for demanding that police release the confiscated craft.
But Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said the arrest was part of a wider campaign to clamp down on the opposition in the wake of 29 March elections.
Police did not immediately confirm Mr Chagonda's detention, but fellow lawyer Chris Mhike said he was arrested yesterday and he is still in police custody.
Mr Chagonda has also been accused of interfering with police work.
The opposition is expected to file an urgent application at the high court for his immediate release.
The pilot of the helicopter, a South African national, was detained on 25 March for alleged fraud and immigration transgressions and spent nine days behind bars before being freed.
The opposition says President Robert Mugabe's regime has launched a widespread crackdown on them and their supporters as the country awaits the result of the presidential election which Mr Tsvangirai claims to have won.
