G8 leaders talk of more Zimbabwe sanctions

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - World leaders raised the prospect of more sanctions against Zimbabwe on Monday unless quick progress is made to end a political crisis after a violent election that extended President Robert Mugabe's 28-year rule.

At a Group of Eight nations summit in Japan, G8 heads of state told seven African leaders at the gathering to deal with Mugabe or trade and investment could be hit on the world's poorest continent, a Canadian official told reporters.

G8 leaders slammed the poll on Monday, with President George W. Bush calling it a sham, while Chancellor Angela Merkel called it illegitimate and said she would back more sanctions.

"There's growing support for sanctions against the Mugabe regime being stepped up," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.

Bush said Zimbabwe was discussed extensively at the meeting but Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete suggested African leaders and the G8 differed over how to respond to the crisis.

"The only area that we may differ is on the way forward. You see differently but for us in Africa we see differently, but I think again there is still room for us for discussions," said Kikwete, who is also head of the African Union.

"I want to assure you that the concerns that you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us in the African continent," said Kikwete, who called again for a unity government in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe was the only candidate in the June 27 run-off election after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out citing state-sponsored violence against candidates and supporters of his the Movement for Democratic Change.

POWER-SHARING

The United States also pointed to divergent views.

"There were differences. Not all leaders are there yet," Dan Price, assistant to the president for international economic affairs, said referring to sanctions.

"It is fair to say that, you know, not all African leaders are in a position to support sanctions at this time."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said there was discussion among some of the African leaders about a power-sharing agreement for Zimbabwe and what it would look like.

Asked how the White House would view a such a deal, Perino said: "We're waiting to see what it would look like."

But G8 leaders suggested their patience was short.

"The Mugabe regime is an illegitimate regime and it should not be tolerated. Public opinion in G8 countries questions why the world would tolerate such a regime and questions why Africa would tolerate such a regime," a senior Canadian official quoted G8 leaders as telling their African counterparts.

"A number of G8 leaders drew attention to the fact that if Africa were to develop, more than just official development assistance was needed. It required trade, it required investment and the image of Africa was suffering because of what was going on in Zimbabwe," he told reporters.

An African Union summit issued a resolution last week calling for talks leading to a national unity government in Zimbabwe.

But despite heightened African criticism, Mugabe, who attended the AU summit, seemed unchastened.

Merkel said she was willing to ramp up pressure on Mugabe.

"I have made very clear that I see the presidential election as illegitimate," Merkel said on Monday.

"I do not rule out further sanctions against Zimbabwe."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged a quick solution.

"There was especially frank discussion underlining the damage that the current situation in Zimbabwe is making to the overall image of Africa and the need to find a quick solution for that very appalling and dramatic situation," he said.

The G8's talks on Monday at a luxury hotel in northern Japan included leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

(Additional reporting by Gernot Heller, Tabassum Zakaria, David Clarke, William Schomberg and Yoko Kubota; Writing by David Fogarty; Editing by Rodney Joyce)