Gordon Brown gives £5million to 'reforming' Zimbabwe

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said there were "great signs of progress" in the wake of February's power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and long-time foe Morgan Tsvangirai.

But following talks at 10 Downing Street with Mr Tsvangirai, now prime minister, he warned that the UK would continue to watch for and criticise signs of renewed repression.

Mr Tsvangirai has struggled to raise the large sums of financial help he wants from foreign governments which remain wary of giving cash directly to Mr Mugabe and his allies.

Mr Brown said the extra cash - which brings this year's transitional help from the UK to £60 million - would be delivered via aid agencies not the Harare administration.

"We are prepared to respond when the Zimbabwean government take action which is in conformity with the long-term ambition," the Prime Minister said.

"But we will continue to speak out for those who are intimidated and threatened and exploited and indeed against all censorship. We will continue to test the progress that is being made."

He went on: "We want to see Zimbabwe prosper, we want to see the emergence of a free society and genuine democratic politics.

"There are great signs of progress: a budget and economic plans are in place; schools are reopening; children are once again filling the classrooms.

"As a result of the progress, we will increase our support to help Zimbabwe move from mere survival towards a genuine recovery.

"We are prepared to go further, in offering more transitional support, if the reform programme on the ground gains momentum. I want to see the government taking further rapid steps forward."

That included a new constitution within 18 months, followed by elections, and an "immediate stop" to land seizures.

The new help will be made up of £4 million for "food security" and £1 million to provide text books for the newly-reopened schools, he said.

Mr Tsvangirai defended the power-sharing arrangement and insisted he was taking Zimbabwe on an "irreversible" journey of reform.

The former opposition leader was heckled and booed at a meeting of Zimbabwean exiles living in the UK when he urged them to return, amid anger that he appeared to be legitimising the Mugabe regime despite continued criticism by bodies such as Amnesty International of human rights abuses.

As the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Mr Tsvangirai has in the past been a target for Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF militias.

"Although this is not a perfect arrangement, we realise that it is a workable arrangement," he said.

"I want to assure you we are in an irreversible process towards consolidating the democratic values.

"I am conscious of the shortcomings in the fulfilment of the benchmarks we have set for ourselves but I can assure you that we will be working very hard to ensure that those conditions are fulfilled.

"I know that the world is anxious to see signs of progress, especially the fulfilment of the global political agreement."

He went on: "It is unfortunate that those living in Britain, because they don't see Mugabe disappearing and therefore conclude that nothing has changed.

"I want to assure you that that is not the case. I am accountable to Zimbabweans inside the country and I am hoping that, with time, those Zimbabweans living outside, will also share the confidence that Zimbabweans inside the country are sharing."