Sadc orders Mugabe to return the locks he had changed

President Robert Mugabe has reportedly been forced to climb down from a unilateral decision to hold elections on July 31 following a meeting of southern African regional leaders in Mozambique.

Mugabe was on Saturday night understood to have been told that the date he set should be delayed by up to 30 more days to allow for new voters to register, and reforms to the media and security services to take place.

The recommendation for a delay came from Jacob Zuma, the South African president nominated by the Southern African Development Community to lead mediation efforts in Zimbabwe. South Africa is among SADC nations who have been asked to lend up to £100 million to fund the polls.

Tendai Biti, a senior figure in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party and Zimbabwe's finance minister in the coalition government, told The Sunday Telegraph by phone that the intervention by the regional leaders was "historic" and has opened the way for "free and fair" elections in Zimbabwe.

It is understood that Mr Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, the two leaders of the parties in coalition with Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF, united to challenge Mr Mugabe and insist on key reforms laid out as part of the agreement of their coalition government formed after violent and disputed elections in 2008.

Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said on Friday that Mr Mugabe was acting "unlawfully and unconstitutionally" by using a presidential decree to set elections, and hinted he would boycott an early poll.

Mr Mugabe is said to have mounted a spirited defence of his proclamation and use of the presidential decree, telling the summit that his hand was forced by a court order which ruled that polls should be held by July 31.

Opposition parties allege the court is partisan in favour of Zanu PF, which commentators believe would benefit from early elections denying other parties time to campaign.

Mr Biti said Mr Mugabe's advisers were a "chaos" faction whose actions had resulted in the Zimbabwean president being "embarrassed before an entire SADC summit."

"SADC has saved the nation by adopting fully the recommendations made by facilitator President Jacob Zuma and therefore nullifying the proclamation. Now Zimbabweans have an opportunity for a free and fair election," Mr Biti said.