Brown slams Mugabe "blood-stained regime"

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown branded the Zimbabwean government a "blood-stained regime" on Saturday and urged the international community to tell President Robert Mugabe "enough is enough."Brown said food shortages, and the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe which has killed hundreds of people,had become an "international rather than a national emergency"that demanded a coordinated response."We must stand together to defend human rights and democracy, to say firmly to Mugabe that enough is enough," he said in a statement.Brown did not explicitly say Mugabe should step down, but in comments later on television he said the world should speak with one voice "to say that this must be brought to an end.""The whole world is angry because they see avoidable deaths-of children, mothers, and families affected by a disease that could have been avoided," he said."This is a humanitarian catastrophe. This is a breakdown in civil society. It is a blood-stained regime that is letting down its own people."U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday that Mugabe's departure from office was long overdue.Britain has long had tense ties with Zimbabwe, formerly a British colony. Mugabe, 84, in power since independence in 1980, has accused London of trying to retain influence in his country.Brown said he had had close contact with African leaders "to press for stronger action to give the Zimbabwean people the government they deserve."He also said he hoped the United Nations Security Council would meet "urgently" to consider the situation in Zimbabwe."The people of Zimbabwe voted for a better future," he said, "It is our duty to support that aspiration."Mugabe and the opposition MDC are deadlocked over the allocation of cabinet seats, the key element in forming a power-sharing government to break the impasse following flawed elections, and the 15-nation Southern African Development Community has been unable to push them into a deal.Zimbabwe's worsening economic collapse, and the spread of cholera to neighboring countries as Zimbabweans seek medical treatment and food abroad, may now force regional leaders to take a stronger stand against the veteran Zimbabwean leader.Brown said the immediate priority was to prevent more deaths by distributing rehydration packs and medical testing kits. He said a "command and control structure" should be put in place in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, to coordinate aid efforts."Cholera is completely controllable and avoidable," he said. "The failure to do so...has got to be held as the responsibility of the Zimbabwean regime. That is why I want all the world's opinion to be heard saying that this cannot go on."
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
By Kate Kelland
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL621524620081206
As in the days of Noah.....