Govt pressures cricketers to scrap tour of Zimbabwe

The Government has written to New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to say why the Black Caps should not tour Zimbabwe next year.

A spokeswoman for Sports Minister Clayton Cosgrove said the letter outlined the appalling situation in Zimbabwe and the need to not show any support to Robert Mugabe's regime.

It raised the personal interest Mr Mugabe had in cricket and talked about human rights abuses in the country. It was sent to NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan.

A NZC spokesman said it was far too early to be worrying about the tour scheduled for July next year.

"There's an awful lot of things that can happen in 12 months time. It's premature."

He said the International Cricket Council had referred whether Zimbabwe met criteria to be a full member nation to a committee to consider.

"That would happen before we tour next year." He said the regime could be gone by then.

Green MP Keith Locke said the Government should pay whatever fine was imposed by the ICC should the Black Caps cancel.

The NZC spokesman said the fine was about $3 million but Zimbabwe could then seek compensation running into "many more millions".

Two years ago the New Zealand Government said it disapproved of the Black Caps touring Zimbabwe. But it did not stop the tour going ahead.

At the time the Government said it would not pay a fine which went to Zimbabwe.

* Giant oil company Shell was considering pulling out of Zimbabwe yesterday amid claims that Mugabe was reserving the distribution of fuel at petrol pumps for party supporters.

A source at the oil giant said it was looking at a plan to halt activities in the country, which are overseen in a joint deal with BP. One option being canvassed is for Shell to sell its stake. BP said it had no plans to withdraw.

Meanwhile both the United Nations Security Council and the European Union are drafting tougher sanctions, but probably stopping short of wider economic sanctions.

The moves came as South African President Thabo Mbeki flew to Harare for talks with Mugabe and, reportedly, members of a dissident Opposition faction which has split from Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change. News agencies reported that Mr Tsvangirai had refused to meet Mr Mbeki during his visit.

- NZPA