SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki says if he tried to prescribe to President Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean leader “would chase me away”. Mbeki told the Afrikaans-language daily Beeld that he would not support sanctions against the Mugabe government. Mbeki has been sharply criticised at home and abroad for his “quiet diplomacy” towards Mugabe in the face of the persecution of white landowners, judges, journalists and opposition politicians in Zimbabwe. – Own Correspondent