UK says peace-keepers for Zimbabwe an option

LONDON-There is widespread agreement that action must be taken to change the status quo in Zimbabwe, possibly with the help of a peacekeeping force, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.Pressure has intensified on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to negotiate after he was returned to power at the weekend in a one-sided vote boycotted by the opposition and widely condemned by global leaders.The African Union has been trying to broker talks between the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)-which won an initial presidential vote-and Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party to establish a unity government. "Virtually the whole international community is saying the status quo cannot continue, the MDC has got to be recognized for the electoral support it had," Brown told a group of cross-party British lawmakers."There will be no support for this regime until democracy is restored, we will intensify the sanctions unless action is taken to change the status quo."Brown said the second election was a "travesty of justice and during that election the regime has blood on its hands for what has happened".While African leaders have preferred a softer approach, there have been calls for tougher measures to force Mugabe to the negotiating table."There has been some discussion of an international peacekeeping force and that is an option that is obviously on the table," Brown told the parliamentary committee. "I think we have got to bear in mind that all the pressure at the moment is political pressure to try and achieve a desired result.""We now have the pressure, that I think is growing, from the African Union counties and from the community of the United Nations that the status quo cannot be held, that action has got to be taken."

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