Washington  - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on African nations to take more steps to pressure Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to reach a political deal with the opposition.

Mugabe appears to be breaking his promise to form a power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the wake of disputed elections earlier this year, Rice said.

"It is shortsighted on the part of the region to let this continue, because it looks to me as if what Mugabe is doing is that he is pulling as much power into his own hands as he possibly can," Rice said. "MDC, I think, is being squeezed out and intimidated. And what started out as power-sharing talks don't look very promising."

South Africa has been trying unsuccessfully to broker a deal between Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party and the MDC, but Washington believes South Africa and other African countries have not done enough to pressure Mugabe.

"We need more help from the region," Rice said.

Rice said the United States and European Union have enacted sanctions against Mugabe and his officials and have pursued sanctions at the UN Security Council. "We've done some (at the United Nations), but we've not been able to do ones that I think really have teeth."

Mugabe has used police to crackdown on dissidents and the MDC through beating and intimidation as the country falls further into economic ruin. The United Nations has warned that half of the population is short on food. (dpa)