Zimbabwe’s neighbours fell in behind the brutal regime of Robert Mugabe yesterday and demanded that the West lift all sanctions on his country.

With opposition growing at home and a crumbling economy, pressure was mounting on the heads of surrounding states to urge their friend and comrade to reconsider his position. But in a communiqué issued at the end of what was billed as a make-or-break summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 14 leaders reaffirmed their solidarity with the veteran President of Zimbabwe.

Their words will come as a crushing blow to campaigners who believed the tide to be turning against his increasingly autocratic 27-year rule.

Mr Mugabe smiled as he pushed past rorters in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, and declared himself satisfied. “Excellent meeting,” he cried, clapping his hands gleefully, before climbing into a waiting limousine.

The one concrete result of the meeting was the appointment of President Mbeki of South Africa — criticised by many for choosing the path of “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe — to help to encourage dialogue between Mr Mugabe and his Opposition.

As that decision was being announced, nine activists of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change were brought to court in Harare in connection with a series of petrol bombings, lawyers said. One, Alec Muchadehama, confirmed that seven were being held on allegations of attempted murder.

Ian Makone, an MDC national executive member, was accused of having an unlicensed pistol. Another official faces charges of illegal possession of explosives. Mr Makone has had to be treated in hospital for injuries allegedly caused by police assault since October. It is not clear if he was assaulted in his latest spell in police cells.

The magistrate ordered all nine to be held in custody overnight after lawyers said that they had been denied access and had been unable to take instructions. An application to the Harare High Court demanding the release of opposition activists was filed yesterday, but lawyers were still waiting for a hearing as night fell.

Police said that nine bombings had been carried out since March 12, which had injured two people, both police officers, with severe facial burns. They reported that four police stations had been hit, as well as township homes or shops of members of Mr Mugabe’s ruling Zanu (PF) party.

A passenger train, a railway line and, in the latest attack on Wednesday night, a fuel tanker had been targeted. Only minor damage had been reported. All but one of the attacks — in the western city of Bulawayo — have been in Harare.

The MDC has denied government charges that it is mounting a “terror bombing campaign”. Police swooped in Harare on Wednesday, raiding about 20 homes before dawn and MDC headquarters at lunchtime, arresting about another 60 people.

Mr Mugabe’s Government has faced mounting criticism from Western countries, which have already imposed a broad array of sanctions on his regime, especially since the arrest and beating of Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, this month. Mr Tsvangirai was said to have been among those arrested at the headquarters, but was released for medical treatment, still suffering from dizziness from his original beating.

At the end of the two-day SADC meeting, its chairman, President Kikwete of Tanzania, said that Zimbabwe was characterised by confrontation.

“We have the Opposition complaining that their democratic rights have been infringed and we have a Government also complaining,” he said. “And we have an Opposition engaging in violence.” He added that dialogue was the only way forward.

Mr Mugabe had outlined Zimbabwe’s economic state to the 13 other representatives of Southern African nations, blaming “illegal” sanctions imposed by the West for spiralling inflation — of 1,700 per cent — and a lack of basic commodities.

He also detailed plans to bring forward parliamentary elections slated for 2010 so that they would coincide with next year’s presidential vote.

The MDC’s leading faction reacted angrily last night to the outcome of the summit. Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, demanded to know why the summit leaders had failed to condemn the recent wave of violent repression against the Opposition.

“I don’t hear them condemning the violence, the state of emergency, the banning of public meetings,” Mr Biti said. “I’m very sceptical.”

The neighbours

— Southern African Development Community formed as Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference in 1980, with nine members

— Adopted its present name in 1992

— The headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana

— Total membership is 14 countries, numbering more than 200 million people

— It approved military intervention in Lesotho in 1998 to restore order after an army mutiny

— It approved a new security pact in 2003

Source: Reuters, SADC

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