The ruling Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe has approved President Robert Mugabe's bid for another presidential run in the 2008 election. "The candidate for the party in 2008 will be the president himself. He was endorsed by the central committee," party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said at a meeting in Harare. Mr.Mugabe, 83, came to power in 1980 after Zimbabwe gained independence, following decades of civil war with Rhodesia, that had declared but was never granted independence from Britain under its white-supremacist president Ian Smith. Opposition leaders have called for Mugabe to stand down in order to end the political and economic crisis that has plagued the country. The decision follows an emergency summit of 14 of southern African leaders on Thursday, which gave public support to Mugabe's regime despite international criticism over government corruption and political crackdowns.