(adds quotes from AU ambassador to EU in paras 14-15, 18)

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE, March 21 (Reuters) - Western powers sought to persuade Africa to confront Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday and one African leader said quiet diplomacy had failed in a country he likened to a "sinking Titanic".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Mugabe's regime was "appalling, disgraceful and utterly tragic for the people of Zimbabwe" and damaging the whole region's reputation.

"Let's be very clear: the solution to Zimbabwe ultimately will not come simply through the pressure applied by Britain. That pressure has got to be applied within Africa, in particular within the African Union," Blair told legislators.

"We will continue to do all we can to make sure that Africa realises this is the responsibility of Africa as well as the Zimbabwean government." Zimbabwe is a former British colony.

Few African governments have joined the criticism of Mugabe although leaders meet in Tanzania next week to discuss Zimbabwe where inflation has soared to 1,700 percent, unemployment jumped to 80 percent and there are frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.

Regional economic and political powerhouse South Africa has been targeted by some human rights groups for being soft on the Harare government, which activists last week accused of arresting and beating opposition figures including Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of Australia, which four years ago led moves to suspend Zimbabwe from the 53-nation Commonwealth after the country's flawed presidential election, said he believed Africa was ready to get tough.

"My takeout from the diplomatic representations we've made around southern Africa over the last week or so is that there is a very significant increase in the degree of concern," Downer told Australian radio.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa said the region would have to get involved through the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

"Quiet diplomacy has failed to help solve the political chaos and economic meltdown in Zimbabwe," Mwanawasa said late on Tuesday in neighbouring Namibia.

"As I speak right now, one SADC country has sunk into such economic difficulties that it may be likened to a sinking Titanic whose passengers are jumping out in a bid to save their lives."

HUNGRY FOR CHANGE

Former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, one of the few African statesmen with Mugabe's liberation-era credentials, said the West was wrong to try to bully the 83-year-old ruler, still regarded by many as a hero of Africa's freedom struggle.

"Mugabe should not be demonised... he will not accept any humiliation. He needs to be talked to see sense," Kaunda told Reuters in an interview in Lusaka. "We need to find an answer and not to throw accusations at him."

The African Union's ambassador to the European Union said the West was in danger of being "two-faced" in its attitude.

"There are leaders other than Mugabe with whom you would also not want to be seen, but who have support from various influence zones and to whom no one tells anything," Mahamat Annadif told reporters.

The United States and Britain have threatened to tighten sanctions on Zimbabwe's leadership following the violent crackdown on opposition leaders.

London is also seeking action in the U.N. Security Council and the United Nations human rights commission.

"Sanctions have never solved any problem in the world, they have only made African people suffer," Annadif said.

Mugabe last week told his Western critics "to go hang" and his foreign minister threatened to throw out Western ambassadors who continue to criticise his government.

Zimbabwe officials have said the country's food crisis will likely worsen this year because of a drought, potentially exacerbating political tensions.

Mugabe blames the crisis on Western sabotage following his seizure of white-owned farms to give to landless blacks.

Ten people were arrested for staging a sit-in at Zimbabwe's embassy in London in support of the MDC.

"Contrary to what Mugabe wants the world to believe about the MDC, it's a peaceful organisation," Mary Kasirowore, a UK MDC member, told Reuters.

Mugabe has accused the MDC of violence and says it is a front for Western countries opposed to his rule.

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