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UK increases pressure on Zimbabwe UK increases pressure on Zimbabwe
(about 1 hour later)
Britain is stepping up the pressure on Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe, after opposition activists were attacked following a rally. UK foreign secretary Margaret Beckett is pressing for action over attacks on opposition activists in Zimbabwe.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has asked the UN Human Rights Council to find those responsible for the attack. She has asked the UN Human Rights Council to track down those responsible for the attacks - allegedly carried out in police custody.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested after the rally and appeared in court days later with a badly bruised face and head wound. She also wants the EU to make sanctions against Zimbabwe more effective.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested after a rally and appeared in court days later with a badly bruised face and head wound.
Mr Mugabe blamed the opposition for the violence and told critics to "go hang".Mr Mugabe blamed the opposition for the violence and told critics to "go hang".
Mrs Beckett also wants the EU to make its sanctions against Zimbabwe more effective. But Mrs Beckett said president Mugabe appeared to be indifferent to the "real horror" felt across the world at the attacks.
She said the UN human rights council was "the right place to call for action against the government of Robert Mugabe, and so that is what we're doing".
Britain was also trying to "gather information about the people who are personally responsible for the beatings" and the alleged torture of Mr Tsvangirai and other Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists, she added.
International 'horror'International 'horror'
She told the BBC's Politics Show that Mr Mugabe liked to portray criticism of his regime as a battle between the old colonial power - Britain - and Zimbabwe. She told the BBC's Politics Show that Mr Mugabe should be held responsible for the violence.
"It's one of the reasons why we in the British government try to approach the issue in a way that doesn't give him the excuse to pretend it's all just about the relationship between him and us because that way it is the people of Zimbabwe who suffer." "He is in charge of the government, he's made it very clear that this is a deliberate act of policy on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe, he is indifferent I think to the real horror that's felt right across the international community," she said.
Everyone is concerned Margaret Beckett Labour MP, Kate Hoey, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe welcomed Margaret Beckett's comments but said Tony Blair should get more involved.
She said "horror" at developments in Zimbabwe had been "felt right across the international community". "What we want to see now of course is the Prime Minister directly engaging with President Mbeki of South Africa, who is the key player in all of this and is the one person who could make the difference," she said.
"Everyone is concerned," she added. "He hasn't even yet condemned what's happened and I think that's something that the prime minister and Mbeki should be having a conversation about. "
On Friday Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), left hospital in a wheelchair. On Friday Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, left hospital in a wheelchair.
Badly bruisedBadly bruised
He and colleagues were arrested after police broke up a banned rally on Sunday. He and colleagues were arrested after police broke up a banned rally on Sunday and was seen two days later with a badly bruised face and stitches in a head wound.
Two days later he appeared with a badly bruised face and stitches in a head wound - although doctors have denied reports that he suffered a fractured skull. He told the BBC that Mr Mugabe's government could not defend itself against what it had done.
He told the BBC that Mr Mugabe's government could not defend itself against what it had done
Mr Tsvangirai arrived at court with a bruised face and head woundMr Tsvangirai arrived at court with a bruised face and head wound
"It has strengthened the view nationally and internationally that this regime is a rogue regime which is behaving in a manner which is intolerant," Mr Tsvangirai said."It has strengthened the view nationally and internationally that this regime is a rogue regime which is behaving in a manner which is intolerant," Mr Tsvangirai said.
"And we can not move forward with this regime.""And we can not move forward with this regime."
Four other MDC officials remain in hospital.Four other MDC officials remain in hospital.
British Foreign Office minister, Lord Triesman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Mugabe's actions looked "to be bordering on crimes against humanity".British Foreign Office minister, Lord Triesman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mr Mugabe's actions looked "to be bordering on crimes against humanity".
But he said that military action would not be a practical proposition and that African leaders, especially President Mbeki of South Africa, had to put more pressure on the government in Harare. He dismissed calls for military intervention in Zimbabwe but supported calls for those responsible for assaulting Mr Tsvangirai and the other activists to be identified and added to the list of those subject to an EU travel ban and assets freeze.
He also said President Mbeki and other African leaders should be applying more pressure on the government in Harare.
But President Mugabe said there had been no Western criticism of the MDC, which he said had instigated the violence.But President Mugabe said there had been no Western criticism of the MDC, which he said had instigated the violence.
"When they criticise the government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence we take the position that they can go hang," he said."When they criticise the government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence we take the position that they can go hang," he said.
Police have blamed the MDC for what they said was a firebomb attack on a Harare police station which left two policewomen in hospital.Police have blamed the MDC for what they said was a firebomb attack on a Harare police station which left two policewomen in hospital.