Ian Bell's Saturday essay on Zimbabwe was timely in highlighting the dilemmas facing any who care about that country and its people. I returned from Zimbabwe last week after a brief visit to close friends and I saw some remarkable projects that continue to serve the poorest and most vulnerable.

I am a veteran of demonstrations, not least against Ian Smith's Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa. It is tempting to take the same path over Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, and that seems to be the direction being considered by the Prime Minister over the extension of sanctions.

Such a course would annoy the President and those who surround him, but I am far from convinced that it would assist the suffering people of Zimbabwe. Their unemployment and increasing poverty is related to the isolation of their country and the meltdown of investment.

The picture painted of Zimbabwe is of a country that has already collapsed. To go around Harare as I did is to find a city that, incredibly, is still functioning. Yes, the economy is dependent on a black market that changes daily and there are shortages (but not emptiness) in the shops.

But plenty of cars move around, people go about their business and a white visitor is greeted with warmth and courtesy in a way no different from before.

I do not doubt the violent suppression of dissent but I saw no evidence of the police and army presence on the streets that I have seen in other countries where civic society has all but broken down. I found considerable anger from my Zimbabwean friends (every one of whom strongly opposes the present regime) over press reports that imply that nothing is functioning or happening and over some scenes shot by the media which they identify as doctored from outside.

This does a disservice to the amazing resilience that is such a characteristic in Africa, where 90% of the population struggle for food and necessities and the allocation of farms to select "comrades" has run down agriculture. But when I visited Ghana in 1982 amid an economic crisis, worse shortages and more catastrophic breakdowns had not broken the spirit, nor paralysed activity. So it is in Zimbabwe. Further isolation of Zimbabwe by the colonial power will just fuel paranoia among those in power.

The South African option which I have been critical of in the past, still seems to offer some hope of change. Reports there are that Thabo Mbeki has injected a new urgency on realistic talks with the opposition. Both MDC and Zanu PF are deeply divided but it cannot be long before a government of national unity will replace the present regime.

For Britain to attempt another "regime change" in Africa, this time allying itself with Australia and other predominantly white nations, bypassing and ignoring African efforts, might make some of us who care deeply about Zimbabwe feel good. It will do nothing for some of those victims of the appalling Operation Murambatsvina whom I met last week.

We owe it to them and to our other Zimbabwean friends to walk the difficult tightrope between collusion with a dying regime and colonial collision. We will not make headlines but it may be more statesmenlike.

Rev Dr Iain Whyte, 14 Carlingnose Point, North Queensferry.