Africa's agony

A few nights ago, I saw the horrific report on Newsnight of the suffering in Zimbabwe, with the harrowing pictures of sick, starving and dying children being almost unbearable to watch. I can understand why the Archbishop of York has called for sanctions on Zimbabwe, and certainly any possible solution has to be attempted, given that so far nothing else appears to have shaken the grip of the Zimbabwe regime. I'm not too sure that sanctions will be very effective, though; given that Mugabe has managed to destroy his economy and society by himself, it must be questionable whether the added pressure of sanctions will mean anything to him. But anything is worth trying, and I'll certainly be urging our government to listen to what the Archbishop is saying. I suspect though the crucial factor will be the attitude of the government of South Africa - as well as what is done by the Chinese government, whose deals with Mugabe have given him a lifeline.

There are some very faint signs of progress elsewhere in one of Africa's trouble spots, though, with the eventual, if slow, go ahead for the UN/African Union force for Darfur. It's been slow getting organised, and it's not there yet, and meantime the situation is still desperate. Gordon Brown has underlined the British wish, however, that the force should be in place as soon as possible.