Harare - Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai embarks this weekend on a trip to the United States and several European countries in a major campaign to win support for the country's new power-sharing government, officials said Thursday.

The 57-year-old former opposition leader is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the leaders of Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and senior European Union officials.

His spokesman James Maridadi could not confirm if Tsvangirai would hold talks with US president Barack Obama in Washington. The prime minister would be out of the country for "a few weeks," he said. Tsvangirai's itinerary was being kept deliberately vague "for security reasons."

It is Tsvangirai's first official trip abroad since his Movement for Democratic Change entered an uneasy coalition in February with autocratic President Robert Mugabe and his former ruling Zanu-PF party.

Ironically, Mugabe, the head of state, is officially barred from visiting Europe or the US, in terms of sanctions targeting him and scores of Zanu-PF officials or cronies.

Tsvangirai's tour comes as the government struggles to raise money for Zimbabwe's reconstruction. The US, the EU and other Western donors want to see evidence of substantial reforms before providing any development aid.

Despite some progress in curbing inflation and easing food shortages, the government has been paralysed by disagreements between the parties.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti says Zimbabwe needs over 8 billion dollars to turn around the economy.

So far, however, Harare has raised only 1 billion dollars in credit lines from mainly African countries and institutions.

Coalition government sources said that Tsvangirai would attempt to break the donors' resistance.

"He will be explaining the challenges faced by the inclusive government and the need for donor support, as well as re-engaging with Europe and the United States," a senior MDC official said.

Earlier this week, a source in Tsvangirai's office said the premier would also be trying to explain why "he has started to sound like he is defending Mugabe's policies."

In an interview with a South African newspaper recently, Tsvangirai downplayed ongoing human rights abuses, saying a renewed spate of white-owned land invasions by Mugabe supporters had been "blown out of proportion" and that the ongoing arrests of activists and MDC politicians were "procedural matters." (dpa)