LONDON — Under pressure from Britain to take a tough stance on the crisis in Zimbabwe, Commonwealth ministers met Tuesday to decide how to respond to the occupation of white-owned farms and harassment of opposition groups in the southern African state.
Foreign ministers from eight Commonwealth countries, including Britain's Robin Cook, also were expected to discuss the failure of Pakistan's military rulers to set a date for civilian elections.
But the focus was on Zimbabwe, where since February armed black squatters have seized more than 1,000 white-owned farms, and 13 people, mostly opposition supporters, have been killed.
The opposition accuses President Robert Mugabe of instigating the farm occupations in order to rally supporters and intimidate his enemies ahead of parliamentary elections that are supposed to be held by August.
Cook said he hoped the Commonwealth members would issue a statement backing Britain.