Zimbabwe's main opposition leader praised the United States today for taking an aggressive stand against President Robert Mugabe and accused neighbouring South Africa of being "in solidarity with a dictatorship".
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai spoke hours after police broke up a group of protesters in the capital Harare who witnesses said were urging Mr Bush, on his first African visit, to pressure Mr Mugabe to quit.
"We want to thank the aggressive approach taken by the American government," Mr Tsvangirai told an MDC public meeting.
"Our nation is a pariah nation. (South African President Thabo) Mbeki knows it, everyone on the African continent knows it, but they choose to be in solidarity with a dictatorship. Let us give a clear indication to the South Africans and anybody not to patronise us."
At the protest in Harare, about 30 MDC supporters waved placards urging Mr Mugabe to go and also denounced Mr Mbeki, accusing him of being soft on Zimbabwe's crisis, witnesses said.
Mr Mbeki has promoted behind-the-scenes dialogue with Mr Mugabe as the best way to resolve Zimbabwe's problems, although senior US officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, have urged Zimbabwe's neighbours to pressure Mr Mugabe to hand over power to a transitional government.