Britain's Blair Urges Africa to Pressure Zimbabwe

British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged African leaders to pressure Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

Tony Blair also said his regime was a disaster for the continent.

"It is tragic for the reputation of Africa when Zimbabwe is allowed to remain in the state that it is," Blair told parliament on Wednesday.

Britain and the United States have called for more sanctions against Mugabe's government because of what they call a crackdown on opposition leaders and the economic crises they blame on state mismanagement.

"Let's be very clear: the solution to Zimbabwe ultimately will not come simply through the pressure applied by Britain. That pressure has got to be applied within Africa, in particular within the African Union," Blair told legislators.

"We will continue to do all we can to make sure that Africa realises this is the responsibility of Africa as well as the Zimbabwean government."

Mugabe told his Western critics last week "to go hang" and ordered his foreign minister to "read the riot act" to Western envoys. London and Washington said they would keep up the pressure despite threats to throw out their ambassadors. Blair said Britain would continue to push the European Union to widen the political sanctions it introduced in 2002 against Zimbabwe. He said it would seek to extend the asset freezes and travel bans "as far as we can".

London is also seeking action in the U.N. Security Council and the United Nations human rights commission. Blair said Britain would be urging partners there to make strong statements against the situation in Zimbabwe which he termed "appalling, disgraceful and utterly tragic for the people of Zimbabwe".

"The most important thing for us is to make sure that those other African countries, particularly those in the neighbourhood of Zimbabwe, do everything they possibly can to make it clear that this is a disaster not just for the people of Zimbabwe, but for the reputation of good governance in Africa," Blair said.

"We shall do everything we can on this with the South African government and others."

Regional economic and political powerhouse South Africa has been criticised by some human rights groups for being soft on Mugabe's government, which activists last week accused of arresting and beating opposition figures including Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa urged southern Africa on Tuesday to take a new approach to Zimbabwe, which he likened to a "sinking Titanic". South African President Thabo Mbeki has said Pretoria favours a strategy of "quiet diplomacy".