Mugabe must go, De Klerk tells Leaders in Dubai

And the nobel peace prize winner whose policies dismantled apartheid in South Africa, said his country's current Government needs to exert much more pressure to ensure Mugabe does not remain in power.

'The sooner Mugabe goes the better for Zimbabwe, the better for South Africa, the better for Southern Africa and the better for Africa. He must go!' the former premier told delegates when questioned.

De Klerk said there were three ways of ensuring Mugabe's departure, two of which - military intervention and economic sanctions were popularly opposed.

'The third option is to exert effective pressure, which people say yes to.

'If I was the President of South Africa today I would have exerted pressure much earlier and much stronger pressure than the present South African government has. There is too much velvet in the glove now and too little iron in the fist.'

De Klerk also said the modern generation of leaders in South Africa face 'many serious challenges' - among them he cited unacceptable crime levels, unemployment and the scourge of poverty and AIDS.

Asked what advice he could offer to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, de Klerk called for more conciliation on land division. 'It is fundamentally important that neither of the two ask for too much,' he said.

'The Israeli government holds the power. It has one of the strongest armies in the world, it is in the driving seat. My advice to the Israeli government is to develop a package which is reasonable, which no Palestinian can say no to because it is fair. My advice is don't play a chess game with concessions.'

De Klerk also had praise for the leadership of Dubai which, he said, had transformed the emirate from a little known trading and fishing village to one of the most dynamic and exciting commercial centres in the world.

'All that you see around you results from the vision of people who have the ability to imagine a vision and the leadership which turns those dreams into reality,' he said.

De Klerk brought to a close two days of international leadership debate in an annual summit which is now a key fixture on the global leadership scene.

Meanwhile, IIR, which is organizing Leaders in Dubai 2006, which will be held at the Dubai International Convention Centre from November 28-29 next year, has announced that Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan will feature among next year's stellar line-up.

Citigroup Private Bank, Emaar Properties, Etisalat, Nokia, MasterCard International and Saudi Oger were headline sponsors of 'Leaders In Dubai.'

Official partners were Dubai Municipality, ETA Star, Global Investment House, Kuwait Financial Centre Markaz, Octara, Prime Limousine and TCS Express Worldwide. Audi is the official car partner and HP the official IT partner. Media partners included CNN, Al Arabiya News, Al Hayat, AME Info, Gulf Business, Gulf News and Oman Economic Review.