Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai Thursday to discuss the prospects for restoring substantial US aid to the troubled country.

Tsvangirai is due to meet with President Barack Obama on Friday on his first official trip abroad that is to include meetings in Europe with British, French, German and otherleaders in his quest for support for reconstruction of his battered land.

The United States has not said whether it will offer developmental aid to Zimbabwe that has formed a unity government. US officials say the country's democratic and economic reforms must be enacted before aid is restored.

"Im anxious to hear about the plans and the work that your government is undertaking and to look for ways that we appropriately can be supportive," Clinton told Tsvangirai.

After months of resistance, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe agreed to form a unity government with Tsvangirai, his main opponent, in a bid to end the unrest in the impoverished country over his decades-long autocratic rule. The United States and other western countries have placed travel sanctions on Mugabe and blame him for Zimbabwe's economic collapse, corruption and political intimidation.

Washington has continued to provide humanitarian aid to the country.(dpa)