ZIMBABWE:A defiant Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, yesterday told his critics to "go hang" as diplomatic efforts to curb his regime's abuses intensified.
Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete flew into Harare yesterday on behalf of regional governments to hold talks with Zimbabwe's ageing ruler about his latest clampdown on dissent.
Mr Mugabe refused to accept any blame for the current crisis, accusing the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - the party of badly wounded politician Morgan Tsvangirai - of instigating violence against the state.
"Here are groups of people who went out of their way to effect acts of violence," Mr Mugabe said of the MDC, which participated in an aborted prayer rally in Harare last Sunday.
In his first public comment on the police's brutal attacks on Mr Tsvangirai and the subsequent international outcry, Mr Mugabe said: "It's the West as usual . . . when they criticise the government trying to prevent violence and punish the perpetrators of that violence we take the position that they can go hang."
The US has indicated it may introduce new sanctions against Zimbabwe. However, senior UN and EU officials said yesterday such a move could end up hurting the country's citizens more than its leaders.
The US has had travel restrictions in place on top government officials since 2002 - extending the ban to their family members in 2005. It has also banned transfers of military supplies and suspended non-humanitarian aid to the government.
Mr Kikwete's visit to Harare is an indication of the rising concern within Africa over Mr Mugabe, whose policies have led to several million people leaving Zimbabwe for neighbouring states.
It is understood that Mr Kikwete is urging Mr Mugabe to start long-mooted talks with Britain, the former colonial power, as a way out of the impasse.
Tanzania is one of three countries charged by the Southern African Development Community with dealing with Zimbabwe's political crisis.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has joined in the chorus of criticism against Mr Mugabe, saying: "The Zimbabwean government must cease suppressing the basic fundamental rights of its people."
Isolated skirmishes between police and opposition protesters continued yesterday.