(Adds AU comments) By Nelson Banya HARARE, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The death toll from Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic neared 600 on Tuesday and President Robert Mugabe's government accused Western powers of exploiting the outbreak to force the veteran leader's departure. The African Union made clear it did not back calls for much tougher action on Zimbabwe, saying only dialogue could solve the country's many problems and that sending in troops would achieve nothing. The spreading cholera, food shortages and economic collapse in the southern African country have prompted new demands from Western countries for Mugabe to quit. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on its website the number of cholera cases in Zimbabwe stood at 13,960 with 589 deaths. Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said the West was using the cholera outbreak to further aggression and to advocate an invasion of Zimbabwe in a bid to oust Mugabe. "The British and the Americans are dead set on bringing Zimbabwe back to the U.N. Security Council, they are also dead set on ensuring that there is an invasion of Zimbabwe but without themselves carrying it out," state-owned newspaper The Herald quoted Charamba as saying. Britain, France and the United States have said it is time for Mugabe to go and the European Union on Monday extended a travel ban to 11 more Zimbabwean officials on a list of over 160. The 53-member AU said on Tuesday that the only solution to Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis was talks between political rivals whose deadlock over a power-sharing agreement has exacerbated the crisis. "Only dialogue between the Zimbabwean parties, supported by the AU and other regional actors, can restore peace and stability to that country," said Salva Rweyemamu, spokesman for AU chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. FORCE NOT AN OPTION Rweyemamu said sending peacekeeping troops or removing Mugabe by force, as called for by prominent figures, including Nobel peace laureate and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, were not options. "We have a serious humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe. We have cholera. Do they think that we can eradicate cholera with guns?". Mugabe blames Western sanctions for Zimbabwe's hardship, while his critics accuse him of increasingly authoritarian rule. South African officials visited Zimbabwe on Tuesday to assess the scale of the crisis, responding to an unprecedented appeal for international help from Mugabe's government. Basic foodstuffs are running out, prices of goods are doubling every 24 hours, and the 100 million Zimbabwean dollar a week limit for bank withdrawals buys only three loaves of bread in the once relatively prosperous country. Negotiations between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over implementation of a Sept. 15 power-sharing deal have failed to reach an agreement that could ease the crisis. Zimbabwe's health system cannot cope with the cholera epidemic and the water supply network has failed. People have been drinking from contaminated wells and streams. South Africa, which has seen hundreds of desperate Zimbabweans cross its border seeking treatment for cholera, is due to give details of an aid package to Zimbabwe later this week. At least eight people have died from cholera in the Limpopo province bordering Zimbabwe. South Africa's ruling ANC leader Jacob Zuma on Monday urged swift action on Monday to end Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis. (Additional reporting by George Obulutsa in Dar es Salaam; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
Relatives cover the grave of cholera victim Betty Mubata during her burial at Chitungwiza Unit L cemetery, 27km (17 miles ) south of the capital Harare, December 8, 2008. South African ...
