Tony Blair's government asked South Africa to help Britain invade Zimbabwe and topple Robert Mugabe by force, Thabo Mbeki, the former president, has claimed.
Last night, Blair flatly denied Mbeki's allegation, saying that while he believed Zimbabwe would be better off without Mugabe he never asked anyone to "plan or take part in" military action.
Earlier, in an interview with al-Jazeera, Mbeki said as Zimbabwe sank into economic collapse and political repression in 2000, South Africa and Britain held starkly different views over how to handle the crisis. Mbeki favoured a negotiated settlement; Blair wanted Mugabe to go, by force if necessary.
"This was the difference. So they said 'Mugabe must go'. But we said 'Mugabe is part of the solution to this problem'," said Mbeki.
Mbeki recalled an interview given by Lord Guthrie, chief of Britain's defence staff, who said "people were always trying to get me to look at" toppling Mugabe.
"A retired chief of the British armed forces said [he] had to withstand pressure from Blair, who was saying , 'You must work out a military plan so that we can physically remove Robert Mugabe'."
Mbeki said the idea was rejected on principle.
"Why does it become British responsibility to decide who leads the people of Zimbabwe?" asked Mbeki. "So we said 'No, let Zimbabweans sit down, let them talk'."
In 2000 and 2001, Mugabe repeatedly accused Britain of plotting to re-colonise Zimbabwe.
He said Britain had sent "hit squads" to assassinate his cabinet and had deployed warships to intercept Zimbabwe's fuel supplies.
This became part of his rhetoric as he tried to rally support against the the Movement for Democratic Change.
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