Zimbabwe PM defends Mugabe deal after Western criticism

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday defended his move to enter a power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe, saying they would succeed or fail together.

"Those who accept me have to accept Robert Mugabe.... If there is a problem, we go and fail together," Tsvangirai told reporters in Johannesburg following a three-week tour to London, Washington, Berlin, Stockholm, Brussels and Paris.

"I don't have to defend Mugabe's past and position towards the West or other countries," said the former opposition stalwart who challenged Mugabe in a bitterly disputed election last year before reaching an agreement with him.

"We are in this transition and this transition is working," he added.

He also said his tour to drum up support for the "new" Zimbabwe was a success despite criticism from Western leaders of continued human rights abuses and he insisted that political and economic reforms were gathering pace.

"The reforms are not stopping, they are accelerating," he said.

"I'm happy with the pace.... It has to take into consideration the local realities, the sensitivities. We have to navigate through a lot of problems."

The country's unity government was formed on February 11 and tasked with steering Zimbabwe back to stability after disputed elections plunged the impoverished African state even deeper into crisis and world record inflation.

It has appealed for 8.3 billion dollars (5.9 billion euros) to rebuild the shattered economy but the assistance has so far come in dribs and drabs.

Tsvangirai's tour -- which saw the first official talks with the European Union in seven years -- did not see big aid pledges and he was told repeatedly that Zimbabwe needed to improve its rights record and deepen reforms.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told Tsvangirai: "The international community remains concerned about the rule of law in Zimbabwe" and about the areas of security, media freedom and respect for private property.

"An independent judiciary should go hand in hand with the state's respect for the rule of law," Kouchner said.

But Tsvangirai on Saturday put a positive spin both on his tour and the situation in the country.

"This transition is irreversible," he said. "We are taking measures to reform the political and economic situation in the country.

He listed reforms to the constitution, to the security sector, to the reserve bank and to investment laws as examples.

"In general, the trip has been very successful," he said.

During Tsvangirai's tour, former colonial master Britain pledged an extra five million pounds (8.2 million dollars, 5.9 million euros) in aid but urged more reform.

The United States offered 73 million dollars but President Barack Obama cited concern "about consolidating democracy, human rights and rule of law."

Despite Tsvangirai's optimism, divergences between his appeal to the West and Mugabe's stand came into sharp focus on the last day of his European trip.

Mugabe mocked the West for refusing to lift sanctions against him and his inner circle until the country's unity government introduced tangible reforms.

"'We will not lift sanctions', they say, and 'we will not give money except the little pieces of silver for cholera and humanitarian assistance'," Mugabe told members of his party's consultative assembly in the capital Harare.

"'As long as that man is still there, as long as Mugabe is still there, you will not get that money from us, you Tsvangirai,'" Mugabe said, mimicking Western leaders during a speech broadcast on state television.