Australia has failed to convince key African members of the Commonwealth to extend Zimbabwe's suspension from the grouping past a March deadline, Prime Minister John Howard said.

Howard, speaking Sunday from Washington, said South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo had rebuffed his efforts to extend the sanctions against Zimbabwe until the end of the year.

"They didn't agree with me that further measures should be taken against Zimbabwe and I deduced from that discussion that they would not be unhappy if Zimbabwe were readmitted," Howard told reporters in remarks broadcast in Australia.

Australia, South Africa and Nigeria make up a troika which is overseeing the Commonwealth's response to human rights violations in Zimbabwe surrounding elections last year in which President Robert Mugabe won a fifth term in office.

The troika suspended Zimbabwe from the decision-making councils of the 54-nation Commonwealth in March 2002 for 12 months.

The three nations were to meet again after the 12-month period to determine if Mugabe's regime had responded to a series of demands put forward by the Commonwealth.

But Howard said the leaders of South Africa and Nigeria did not want to hold another meeting on Zimbabwe, effectively allowing the year-long suspension to lapse next month.

He said President Mbeki informed him of the South African and Nigeria positions in a telephone conversation over the weekend.

Howard said many Commonwealth members, including Pacific nations, India New Zealand, Canada and Britain feel that Mugabe has not addressed the group's concerns about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

"I would be unhappy if Zimbabwe was readmitted," he said - Sapa-AFP.