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Bush warns of more sanctions
15/07/2008 19:03 - (SA)
Washington - US President George W Bush said on Tuesday the US was looking at imposing more sanctions against Zimbabwe's government after a UN resolution was torpedoed by Russia and China last week.
A robust US sanctions package is already in place against President Robert Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials and Bush told reporters the US wanted to see if more punitive measures could be effective.
"I think the thing we need to do now is for us to analyse whether or not we can have some more bilateral sanctions on the regime leaders," Bush told a news conference, adding that he was disappointed by China and Russia's actions.
The proposed UN sanctions that failed last Friday would have imposed an arms embargo on Zimbabwe as well as financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and 13 other officials.
The State Department's top diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said the Bush administration was actively preparing another round of sanctions that would affect both government entities and individuals. She gave no further details.
"The US will continue its own sanctions and encourage others, especially the EU, to impose additional sanctions to increase pressure on the Mugabe regime," Frazer said.
In a speech to African leaders at a conference in Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said African nations must do more to make Mugabe accountable for his actions, saying the crisis there was "Africa's challenge".
Rice referred to the "heartbreaking plight" of the Zimbabwean people due to Mugabe's actions and his disputed re-election last month which the West has called a sham.
- Reuters
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