PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - CROOK MISSED CHANCE TO GRILL BLAIR ON ZIMBABWE

CROOK MISSED CHANCE TO GRILL BLAIR ON ZIMBABWE

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN star MACKENZIE CROOK is angry he turned down an audience with British Prime Minister TONY BLAIR, because he missed the chance to discuss the plight of his relatives in troubled Zimbabwe. Crook backed out of the meeting after being invited by Blair because he decided he would be too "tongue-tied" and the opportunity should go to "someone more political" - but he has since realised he should have used the rare chance to speak on behalf of his stricken uncle. Crook says, "I've got questions about Zimbabwe. I have relatives out there who were thrown off their farm. "My uncle had been a farmer all his life. He and his family were given two weeks to get off a farm in Zimbabwe and they weren't allowed to take anything with them. "Everything he'd worked for during his life was taken from him."