Harare — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has, for the first time, called for the immediate lifting of illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe to pave way for full implementation of the Global Political Agreement that led to the inclusive Government's formation.

Speaking after meeting visiting Danish Minister for Development Co-operation Soren Pind in Harare yesterday, the PM said the inclusive Government was irreversible and the West should acknowledge this by doing away with the discredited embargo.

The policy shift comes after pressure increased on the MDC-T leader to start fulfilling his GPA obligations by lobbying for an end to the sanctions that his party campaigned for.

"Well, the issue of sanctions debate is a very contentious one in Zimbabwe. We want all sanctions removed," he said.

He challenged Denmark and its Western allies to stop politicising assistance to Zimbabwe, saying any form of aid should be channelled through the inclusive Govern-ment.

"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."

Mr Tsvangirai appeared to take a dig at Pind by saying failure to respect the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces undermined the entire inclusive Government.

Last week Pind told the international media that he was not interested in meeting President Mugabe during his visit.

Pind further declared sanctions would not be lifted until Zimbabwe held fresh elections.

Yesterday, Pind retreated, albeit a little, and said Denmark had no say on the subsistence of sanctions as the decision to impose them had been collectively taken by the 27-member European Union bloc.

Last month the EU extended sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year, claiming non-implementation of the GPA.

Ironically, one of the key issues in the GPA is the lifting of sanctions.

A 2006 EU study admitted that the sanctions had been imposed to influence the 2002 Presidential elections -- won by President Mugabe -- and not because of public claims concerning governance, human rights or rule of law.

Calls for Mr Tsvangirai to make a stand on sanctions had been increasing and Zanu-PF youths piled the pressure by marching through the streets of Harare last week and giving the MDC-T leader up to March 24 to come out clearly in opposition to the embargo.

They said they would take unspecified action should he fail to do so.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also turned up the heat when he told the House of Commons they were waiting for advice from MDC-T on how to proceed on sanctions.

The United States had also imposed its own sanctions regime through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.

Washington's embargo bars trade with Zimbabwean companies and instructs all Americans sitting on the boards of multilateral lending institutions not to support the extension of any finances to the country.

ZDERA remains in place until land tenure patterns revert to pre-1998 models when about 6 000 white farmers held land that was subsequently allocated to nearly 300 000 black Zimbabwean families under the revolutionary Fast Track Land Reform Programme.