US still weighing Zim sanctions
2008-07-22 20:27
Special Report
The High Court judge in Zimbabwean politician Roy Bennett's terrorism trial has refused to step aside.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says he doesn't expect the US sanctions on his country to be lifted soon.
Washington - The US is closely watching political developments in Zimbabwe, but still may impose fresh sanctions on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and his top aides, the White House said on Tuesday.
"We're still looking into it, as we monitor the situation on the ground," US National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe said after the EU widened its sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Brussels took action despite a deal between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai aimed at ending the political crisis.
EU foreign ministers, at a meeting in Brussels, added 37 more people to a list of individuals under a visa ban and whose assets have been frozen, as well as four "legal entities," or companies.
The list - which had already included Mugabe, his wife and other senior officials - now totals 168 people and four companies, and sees the EU for the first time target business people and companies in Zimbabwe.
The new names were not immediately released so as not to alert those concerned and allow them to transfer their assets to safety.
The move came despite the signing of a deal on Monday, between the veteran president and Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai on a framework for talks on a future government.
- AFP