Zimbabwe?s violent eviction of slum dwellers could hamper efforts by the G8 group of industrialised nations to secure a deal on tackling African poverty, the Commonwealth?s Secretary-General said on Sunday. A crackdown by President Robert Mugabe?s government on shanty towns and informal traders has left hundreds of thousands in Zimbabwe homeless and drawn fierce criticism from the West. But African leaders have not spoken out against Zimbabwe.

?If you?re wanting to destroy a relationship between Africa and the G8, what?s happening now in Zimbabwe doesn?t help African leaders who do want a genuine engagement and genuine dialogue with G8 leaders,? Don McKinnon told BBC television. British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to persuade Group of Eight leaders to raise aid, cancel debt and reduce trade barriers to help the world?s poorest continent at a summit next month in Gleneagles, Scotland.

The actions of Mugabe?s government, repeatedly highlighted by human rights groups, and the failure of African nations to condemn them, does little to reassure Western leaders who want proof of good governance in Africa before they fork out cash. British International Development Minister Hilary Benn said he was disappointed African leaders had kept quiet.

?I regret very much the fact that African leaders have not spoken out about what is happening in Zimbabwe,? Benn told BBC television. ?I hope they will because ... it?s important that people speak out that Zimbabwe does not represent everything that is happening in Africa,? he said, adding that good governance was ?fundamental to Africa?s future prosperity?.

The Commonwealth?s McKinnon said a number of African leaders had privately expressed concern about the situation in Zimbabwe. The southern African state quit the Commonwealth in 2003 after the group of mostly former British colonies agreed to continue its suspension, first imposed over accusations of vote-rigging in 2002.