Mwanawasa compared Zimbabwe to a “sinking Titanic.”

Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s sole ruler since it gained independence from Britain in 1980, has skilfully traded on his legacy as one of the pre-eminent leaders of Africa’s anti-colonial liberation struggle in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 83-year-old ruler has dismissed many of his critics for their “racist preoccuption” with Zimbabwe’s problems, effectively hobbling African leaders who fear being seen as agents for Britain, the United States and other Western nations.

But Zimbabwe’s accelerating economic collapse, marked by inflation over 1,700 percent, 80 percent unemployment and chronic food and fuel shortages, is adding to the pressure on its neighbours to end their resistance to action.

Australia, which four years ago led moves to suspend Zimbabwe from the 53-nation Commonwealth after the country’s flawed presidential election, said recently it believed Africa was ready to get tough on Mugabe.

Analysts say the crisis in Zimbabwe, once one of the most prosperous countries in Africa, threatens regional economic stability, raising the spectre of social unrest and forcing more Zimbabweans to flee to neighbouring countries.

Mugabe blames the crisis on sabotage by Western opponents trying to oust him over his controversial seizures of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks.