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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Caroline Davies and Ben Quinn

RARE PHOTOS: Foreign office cautioned against uk military action to overthrow robert mugabe | Rare Historical Photos

Tony Blair and Robert Mugabe in Commonwealth talks in 1997.
Tony Blair and Robert Mugabe in Commonwealth talks in 1997. The Foreign Office dismissed military action as not a ‘serious option’ for dismantling Mugabe’s regime. Photograph: PA

The Foreign Office cautioned against UK military intervention to overthrow the former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in 2004, advising it was not a “serious option”, recently released documents show.

Policy papers show Tony Blair’s government weighed up options on how best to handle the “depressingly healthy” 80-year-old dictator, who refused to step down while the country descended into violence and economic chaos.

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