20 September 2007
President Mugabe "bears responsibility" for the "great tragedy" in Zimbabwe, the Prime Minister has said in a television interview.
The PM announced that humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe would increase but international pressure on the regime in Harare would also step up. Further sanctions will be sought through the European Union "in the next few days".
The United Nations, the European Union, African Union, and the whole international community all have a part to play in resolving the situation, Mr Brown added. He also confirmed that he will "refuse to sit down" with Mugabe at the Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon this coming December.
There is "an indication" that opinion in the UK and around the world views the situation in Zimbabwe as "an abhorrence", he said.
He pointed to the "growing anger" within the African Union towards the policies of President Mugabe and "growing pressure" for the restoration of full democracy in Zimbabwe.
"This is a shocking tragedy," he said.
"… it is something that you know and I know is getting worse as a result of the failure of President Mugabe to respond to what the world is saying and to the events in his own country.
"And the numbers of people who have been pushed into poverty and unemployment and into suffering as a result is something that is angering the whole world and it is the combination of measures, there are no easy answers to this question but it is the combination of measures that will in the end bring the results which we want, which is the restoration of full democracy."
Writing in the Independent today, the Prime Minister described the situation in the former British colony as "appalling and tragic".
Image copyright: Reuters
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