Australian PM bans tour of Zimbabwe

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Prime minister John Howard has been infuriated by Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's brutal crackdown on political opponents, comparing his tactics to those of the Nazis during the Second World War.

"The government through the foreign minister have written to the organisation of Cricket Australia instructing that the tour not go ahead," Howard told ABC.

"We don't do this lightly, but we are convinced that for the tour to go ahead there would be an enormous propaganda boost to the Mugabe regime.

"The Mugabe regime is behaving like the Gestapo towards its political opponents. The living standards in the country are probably the lowest of any in the world, you have an absolutely unbelievable rate of inflation.

"I have no doubt that if this tour goes ahead it will be an enormous boost to this grubby dictator."

Zimbabwean cricket has been in crisis in recent years.

Their national team are still recognised by the International Cricket Council, although the world game's governing body have withdrawn their Test status.