Britain asks African leaders to turn up the heat on Mugabe

Britain has mounted an extensive diplomatic campaign to encourage African leaders to join in opposition to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

The Prime Minister, when he attends the Earth summit in Johannesburg, is to meet President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to urge him to put more public pressure on the Zimbabwean President and to challenge his policies.

Mr Blair's intervention follows talks between Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and his counterparts in Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.

Mr Straw is also expected to be at the UN General Assembly meeting next month when Zimbabwe is on the agenda.

Mr Mugabe is continuing to gag all political opposition in his country and evict white farmers from their land. But, while the Government is under pressure from the Tory opposition and the US to take a firmer line on Zimbabwe, it is felt that nothing will be achieved without the support of African nations.

A Foreign Office source said yesterday: "There will be meetings in the margins of the Johannesburg summit and an opportunity in those meetings obviously to bring home to the African nations the damage Zimbabwe is doing."

Today, in an article for The Observer, Mr Straw launches an unprecedented attack on Mr Mugabe. He says his leadership has caused millions of people to starve and is based "on a fraud". The Mugabe regime, he says, is characterised by "intimidation and murder", and he calls the country "a self-made pariah, not a colonial victim".

"The scale of the suffering inflicted on Zimbabwe's black population is especially shocking," he writes.

The UK provide food through humanitarian aid – despite fears that opponents of the regime are not receiving assistance – and is also working with the European Union and the Commonwealth troika – South Africa, Nigeria and Australia – which have formed ties with both the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Mr Mugabe is expected to announce a new team tomorrow after dissolving the cabinet for the first time in 22 years. He will attend the Earth summit, sparking a row over whether Mr Blair should boycott his speech and refuse to appear on the same platform.