CANBERRA, May 11: Prime Minister John Howard called on Friday for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to cancel Australia’s tour of Zimbabwe, reiterating that September’s planned trip to the African country would hand President Robert Mugabe a moral victory.

The Australian government said it was investigating legal ways to cancel the tour without World Cup champions Australia incurring a US$2 million fine from international cricket authorities.

Howard said on Friday the law was not entirely clear on whether the government could direct the team not to tour the African nation, where life expectancy has plunged and inflation has soared under Mugabe's regime.“I am jammed between my distaste for the government getting involved in something like this and my even greater distaste for giving a propaganda victory to Robert Mugabe,” Howard told a Melbourne radio station.

He recognised that the ICC had responsibilities to maintain the global cricket competition but said the organisation should also respond to the widespread feeling among cricket fans that the tour was not acceptable.

“How long can the international cricket community – not just Australia – go on doing things that give aid and comfort to somebody who has thus far been totally impervious to any entreaties?” Howard said.Foreign Minister Alexander Downer met Thursday with Cricket Australia for talks aimed at having the tour cancelled.

“We very much want to stop it,” Downer said on Friday of the trip that would include three ODIs.

If the tour went ahead, “It would send a message there that although politicians were trying to isolate Zimbabwe and its regime, apparently the greatest cricket team in the world wasn’t,” Downer said.

Downer said one possibility was for the government to declare the Australian team's tour illegal, which could free Cricket Australia from having to pay the fine.

“We are still getting some legal advice on the various ways that might be possible,” Downer said.—AP