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| Africa Subsaharan |
| US and EU keep Zimbabwe sanctions |
| 2008-09-16 |
| The US and the EU say there will be no immediate end to sanctions on Zimbabwe, despite a historic power-sharing deal signed in Harare on Monday. EU foreign ministers said the measures would continue until the new government took steps to restore democracy. Robert Mugabe said he was committed to national unity and would do "his best". His rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the new prime minister, said the agreement provided the best hope for Zimbabwe and called for its full implementation. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a decision on lifting sanctions on Zimbabwean officials had been postponed until October. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Zimbabwe's new administration would have to make significant progress before the lifting of sanctions was considered. The International Monetary Fund, which suspended financial and technical assistance in 2006, said it stood ready for talks with the new government about stabilising the economy. But it added that Harare would have to take clear steps to resolve the economic crisis in a country where inflation stands at more than 11,000,000%. A senior US diplomat told the BBC that Washington wanted to help Zimbabwe, but would need to see proof that Mr Mugabe had relinquished some genuine power to Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, said: "We haven't yet had a chance to study the details of the agreement, nor do we know who will be in the cabinet of this new government, so in some ways it's a bit premature for us to comment until we have the full picture." |
| Posted by:Steve White |