WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush assailed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday as a "discredited dictator," sharpening his criticism of one of Africa's most stridently anti-American leaders on the eve of a trip to the continent.

Bush, in a wide-ranging speech on U.S. Africa policy before leaving on Friday on a five-nation tour, expressed solidarity with "all in Africa who live in the quiet pain of tyranny."

"In Zimbabwe, a discredited dictator presides over food shortages, staggering inflation and harsh repression," Bush said.

"America will continue to support freedom in Zimbabwe and I urge neighbors in the region, including South Africa, to do the same. We look forward to the hour when this nightmare is over and the people of Zimbabwe regain their freedom," he added.

At the United Nations in September, Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, accused Bush of "rank hypocrisy" for lecturing him on human rights and likened the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison to a concentration camp.

Bush had criticized Zimbabwe's government as "tyrannical" and an "assault on its people" in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Mugabe, 83, has voiced confidence he will be re-elected by a large margin in Zimbabwe's March election, despite an economic meltdown blamed on his government. Opposition politicians have accused him of rigging past elections.

Zimbabwe is gripped by the world's highest inflation rate, surging unemployment and shortages of fuel and food.

Mugabe accuses Western countries of sabotaging the economy as punishment for his seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

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