Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged western countries to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe and stop sidelining President Robert Mugabe in resolving the Zimbabwe crisis.

Speaking to journalists after meeting visiting Danish minister for development co-operation Soren Pind in Harare on Monday, Tsvangirai said Western countries should engage the Zimbabwean government, without excluding anyone in resolving the country's problems.

“The issue of sanctions debate is a very contentious one in Zimbabwe. We want all sanctions removed,” he said.

The issue of sanctions on Zimbabwe by the US and European Union (EU) has been an emotive one and is causing massive stress to the coalition government in Zimbabwe, which was established last year to end the decade-long political and economic turmoil.

ZANU-PF and MDC, the partners to the inclusive government, have been clashing over the past year, accusing each other of being responsible for the sanctions slapped on the country.

The situation was made worse in January when British foreign secretary David Miliband said Britain would wait on instruction from Tsvangirai's MDC to lift the sanctions.

Although the sanctions are targeted at over 200 ZANU-PF individuals, they also extend to Western countries halting all forms of budgetary support to the government, which has made it difficult for the inclusive government to mobilise the US $10 billion required to turn round the economy.

Tsvangirai challenged Denmark and its Western allies to engage the Zimbabwean government directly, not through any particular political parties.

He said Western countries that were sidelining President Mugabe in resolving the Zimbabwean problem must stop doing so.

“If you want to support the people of Zimbabwe , you have to support the coalition government. It can't be done through political parties. President Mugabe is President of Zimbabwe and you cannot separate President Mugabe from the whole process,” he said.
Prior to Pind's visit last week, international press reported that Pind was not interested in meeting President Mugabe during his visit, declaring also that sanctions would not be lifted until Zimbabwe held fresh elections.

By yesterday, it was not clear whether Pind would still meet President Mugabe.