By Tom Burgis

Trade unions in Zimbabwe's neighbouring countries have agreed to ratchet up the pressure on Robert Mugabe's regime by staging a one-week boycott of all goods bound for the poverty-stricken country.

Zimbabwe's economy is already on the brink of -collapse, with inflation thought to be well above the official rate of 2.2m per cent.

But in a sign of its growing influence at home and abroad, Cosatu, South Africa's labour federation, said yesterday that it and its allies in the region planned to refuse to handle imports heading for Zimbabwe at the end of this month.

"It will affect the ordinary people, no doubt about it," said Zwelinzima Vavi, Cos-atu's secretary-general, after a meeting in Johannesburg with his counterparts from Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

"[Mr Mugabe] is illegitimate. He is a dictator . . . He is already crumbling. He is on his knees . . . We hope that this last push from civil society will help deliver the demands of the people for democracy and development," he said.

Cosatu's criticism of the Harare regime have put it at odds with the African National Congress, despite both being members of South Africa's ruling alliance. The attempts of Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, to broker a Zimbabwe deal through "quiet diplomacy" have drawn international opprobrium.

The boycott, which will also target shipments to Swaziland, is scheduled for the week up to -September 3.

The unions are demanding that Mr Mugabe relinquish power to a transitional authority to oversee fresh elections following the president's widely criticised victory in the June polls.

Mr Mugabe was locked in a third day of -faltering talks yesterday aimed at brokering a power-sharing deal with Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader who triumphed in March's first- round presidential vote before withdrawing from the race as violence against his supporters escalated.

Cosatu hopes to persuade unions in the other countries surrounding landlocked Zimbabwe to participate. The federation's members include customs workers, lorry drivers and airport staff.

Half of Zimbabwe's imports come from South Africa. Of total imports, food accounts for 15 per cent, fuel and chemicals for 20 per cent each, and vehicles and machinery for 21 per cent.

Mr Vavi said the initial one-week boycott could be followed by a fortnight-long stoppage.