A British human rights campaigner is to apply for an international arrest warrant against Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, it was reported in South Africa yesterday.

Peter Tatchell will apply for the warrant and an extradition order against the controversial leader of the country formerly under British rule in London's Bow Street magistrates court on Wednesday, the Sunday Times said.

"I have affidavits from three Zimbabwe torture victims.

They implicate Mugabe in the authorisation of the torture," Tatchell, who has in the past attempted to make a citizens arrest on Mugabe, told the newspaper.

He would also approach the court with affidavits from human rights groups that attest to "the widespread use of torture with the knowledge and consent of the Zimbabwean government", he said.

A successful application could see the arrest and extradition of Mugabe from any of the more than 100 countries with which Britain has an extradition treaty, he said.

Mugabe has been largely blamed for bringing political and economic chaos upon Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980 with his radical policies, which include seizing white-owned commercial farms. – Sapa-DPA.