Newly disclosed papers show that the UK's diplomatic corps advised against British military action to remove the then Zimbabwean president, the long-serving leader, in 2004, advising it was not considered a "serious option".
Policy papers from the then Prime Minister's government show officials considered options on how best to deal with the "remarkably robust" 80-year-old dictator, who refused to step down as the country fell into turmoil and financial collapse.
Following the ruling party winning a 2005 election, and a year after the UK joined a US-led coalition to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, No 10 asked the Foreign Office in July 2004 to develop potential options.
Diplomats concluded that the UK's policy of isolating Mugabe and building an international agreement for change was not working, having not managed to secure support from influential African states, notably the then South African president, the South African leader.
Options outlined in the documents were:
"We know from conflicts abroad that changing a government and/or its bad policies is exceedingly difficult from the outside."
The diplomatic assessment rejected military action as not a "realistic option," and warned that "The only candidate for leading such a military operation is the UK. No one else (even the US) would be prepared to do so".
It warned that military intervention would result in heavy casualties and have "considerable implications" for British people in Zimbabwe.
"Short of a major humanitarian and political catastrophe – resulting in massive violence, significant exodus of refugees, and instability in the region – we assess that no African state would support any attempts to remove Mugabe forcibly."
The document adds: "Nor do we judge that any other international ally (including the US) would sanction or join military intervention. And there would be no legal grounds for doing so, without an approving Security Council Resolution, which we would fail to obtain."
The Prime Minister's advisor, a senior official, warned him that Zimbabwe "could become a significant obstacle" to his plan to use the UK's presidency of the G8 to make 2005 "a pivotal year for Africa". Lee concluded that as military action had been discounted, "it is likely necessary that we must adopt a long-term strategy" and re-engage with Mugabe.
Blair appeared to agree, writing: "We should work out a way of revealing the lies and malpractice of Mugabe and Zanu-PF up to this election and then afterwards, we could try to re-engage on the basis of a clear understanding."
The then outgoing ambassador, in his valedictory telegram, had advocated cautious renewed contact with Mugabe, though he understood the Prime Minister "would likely be appalled given all that Mugabe has said and done".
Robert Mugabe was finally deposed in a military takeover in 2017, at the age of 93. Previous claims that in the early 2000s Blair had tried to pressurise Thabo Mbeki into joining a military coalition to depose Mugabe were strongly denied by the ex-British leader.
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