By Katie Nguyen DAR ES SALAAM, March 29 (Reuters) - Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said on Thursday he was confident African leaders would rally to solve Zimbabwe's crisis as Western countries demanded action on President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian rule. Leaders of the Southern African Development Community gathered at a summit are under pressure to censure Mugabe for a police crackdown on the opposition that has sparked the threat of more sanctions on a country already deep in economic crisis. "The political and security situation in our region at the moment requires the attention of the summit as a matter of urgency," Kikwete said before closed-door discussions began. "There are a few hot spots which demand our attention. However complex and difficult they appear, none of them is impossible to solve," he said. The United States, joining Britain and the European Union, said it was time for African leaders to get tough on Mugabe, whose police forces on Wednesday briefly detained opposition leaders for the second time in a month. "Certainly we think it's time for the African states, specifically this group of neighbouring states, to make clear that this kind of behaviour from President Mugabe is unacceptable," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, is accused by critics of political abuses and economic mismanagement. He came under fresh attack this month after police arrested and allegedly beat opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists at a Harare prayer rally. Mugabe did not comment as he arrived at the summit, which has also drawn regional leaders including South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and Namibia's Hifikepunye Pohamba. Tensions in Zimbabwe flared anew on Wednesday when police briefly detained MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and arrested at least 10 other activists accused of being connected to a spate of petrol bombings. Mugabe, who is thought to be running into opposition within his ZANU-PF party over plans to extend his rule, says the MDC are Western "stooges" and police have accused party activists of a terror campaign aimed at removing him from office. REGIONAL THREAT Political analysts say Zimbabwe's political crisis and rapidly shrinking economy threaten to destabilise the region as millions flee inflation of 1,700 percent, food shortages and more than 80 percent unemployment. But many analysts believe Mugabe will escape public censure from his African peers despite Western-led calls for action. Recalling the liberation struggle for South Africa, Kikwete paid a passing tribute to the 83-year-old Mugabe's legacy as a leading light of Africa's anti-colonial struggle. "Many meetings to strategise on the conduct of the liberation struggle were held in this hotel," Kikwete said at the summit venue. "President Mugabe, President Mbeki, President Pohamba and many comrades gathered here have vivid memories of that glorious past." Britain and the United States have called for more sanctions against Mugabe's government, while London has also sought intervention from the United Nations. Mugabe says he is the victim of Western sabotage for his policy of seizing white-owned farms to give to landless blacks. Though Zimbabwe was expected to dominate talks, SADC leaders were also likely to quiz Congolese President Joseph Kabila about clashes between government soldiers and forces loyal to a former rebel leader that have killed more than 100 people. Congolese authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Jean-Pierre Bemba who is sheltering in the South African embassy in Kinshasa, where he fled during last week's fierce gun and mortar battles. (Additional reporting by George Obulutsa)
