Mugabe 'should be forced out'

Updated 14.01 Wed Nov 26 2008

Keywords: Zanu-PF, MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe, Botswana

Botswana has urged Zimbabwe's neighbours to squeeze President Robert Mugabe out of power.

The call - in the toughest language yet from a state in the region - comes in a bid to end Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

Botswana said Mr Mugabe would not last if Zimbabwe's neighbours closed their borders and completely isolated him

Botswana's foreign minister Phandu Skelemani called on the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) to confront Mr Mugabe.

He said Mr Mugabe would not last if Zimbabwe's neighbours closed their borders and completely isolated him. Mr Skelemani said: "If no petrol went in for a week, he can't last."

SADC has failed to persuade Mr Mugabe and the opposition to implement an outline power-sharing deal signed in September, which is widely seen as the best hope for Zimbabwe's ruined economy.

At new talks that began on Tuesday, Zimbabwe's opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), vowed to resist any compromise that would leave it sidelined in a unity government with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

Negotiators from Zanu-PF, the MDC and a breakaway MDC faction are hoping to reach a breakthrough in talks with mediator Thabo Mbeki in South Africa on a draft constitutional amendment.

The amendment would allow a new government to be formed under the power-sharing deal with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister, but the parties are still arguing over the wording and about who should control which ministries.

Mr Skelemani expressed little confidence in mediation, saying SADC should "own up" and admit it had failed, and that it was time for strong action.

Botswana's president, Ian Khama, has emerged as one of Mr Mugabe's harshest critics in Africa. Mr Mugabe's government has accused Mr Khama of interference and said his call for fresh elections was an "act of extreme provocation".

In a report issued by his Atlanta-based Carter Center, former US president Jimmy Carter accused Mr Mugabe of refusing to share real power with the opposition and said Zimbabwe might become a failed state if he did not change course.

Meanwhile, the British Government has pledged an extra £3 million of aid to Zimbabwe to tackle the "rapidly deteriorating" humanitarian situation.

The money will form part of a £10 million package targeted at stopping the spread of a cholera outbreak that has already killed 300 people.