Zuma urges progress on Zimbabwe after sanctions rebuff

By Giles Elgood

LONDON (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma, rebuffed by Britain in his call to end to sanctions on Zimbabwe, said on Friday he had put his point across about the need to resolve the crisis in the struggling country.

Winding up a state visit to Britain, Zuma said he wanted to move forward as quickly as possible on Zimbabwe and expected to visit to his neighbour very shortly as part of South Africa's efforts to broker an end to the crisis.

Zuma said at the start of his trip to London this week that he wanted an end to sanctions against Zimbabwe, but Britain said it wanted to see more progress on human rights and democracy before the European Union lifts the measures targeted against President Robert Mugabe and his allies.

"I think we have put our point across," Zuma told reporters on Friday. "I think everybody has been saying they need to think about what was said so that we can have a resolution of the Zimbabwe problem."

"With regard to South Africa this issue is not just a theoretical issue. It is an issue that impacts on South Africa," Zuma said.

As the Zimbabwean economy has collapsed, 3 million Zimbabweans have fled across the border into South Africa, placing that country's social infrastructure under severe strain.

Mugabe and his old rival Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity government in Zimbabwe last year.

Despite persistent friction between the two leaders, they have agreed on commissions to drive media, electoral and human rights reforms.