ZIMBABWE:LEADERS FROM the Group of Eight and Africa yesterday failed to agree on how to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Seven African heads of state resisted pressure from the US and Europe for sanctions against the Mugabe regime, telling the western nations that they still saw scope for African diplomacy to lead to a power-sharing accord.
At a news conference in Hokkaido, Japan, with President George W Bush, Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania and chairman of the African Union, said: "The only area where we may differ is on the way forward."
Last week the African Union called on both sides in the Zimbabwe crisis - President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change - to come together in a national unity government.
The call came after Mr Mugabe declared himself the winner of a presidential election run-off on June 27th which the MDC candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, boycotted, citing violence against his supporters.
Mr Kikwete said: "We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe and therefore the parties have to work together."
He assured Mr Bush that African leaders understood the urgency of dealing with the crisis, saying: "The concerns that you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us in the African continent."
The US and its European allies made it clear they would keep up the pressure for a further United Nations Security Council resolution on Zimbabwe.