On anniversary of power-sharing, Britain firm on Zimbabwe sanctions

Feb 1, 2010, 16:44 GMT

Harare - A senior British politician visiting Zimbabwe Monday made clear Britain would not buckle to pressure to lift sanctions on the cash-strapped country in the run-up to the first anniversary of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government.

'The British Government has already made clear that the key to having the EU's restrictive measures lifted is for those blocking progress in Zimbabwe to implement the commitments they signed up to ... and to stop using sanctions as an excuse,' Malcolm Bruce, the chairman of the House of Commons International Development Committee said in a statement on arrival in Zimbabwe.

Bruce is in Zimbabwe, together with seven other British parliamentarians on a four-day visit to review the effectiveness of Britain's aid programme.

The visit comes as the country prepares to mark the one-year anniversary on February 11 of a power-sharing government formed by arch-rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, formerly the opposition leader.

The power-sharing deal, which ended months of post-election violence against opposition supporters, has been marred by disagreement between the two, with Mugabe refusing to appoint some of Tsvangirai's allies to senior government posts.

Mugabe, for his part, accuses Tsvangirai of failing to convince the West to lift sanctions it imposed on the 86-year old leader and his cronies in 2002 following a spate of human rights abuses and a rigged election.

Reacting to Bruce's comments, Ephraim Masawi, spokesman for Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, said: 'The issue of sanctions is now clear. MDC (Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party) is not playing its role to have them lifted.'

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the British House of Commons last month that London was awaiting an update from the MDC before deciding whether the targeted travel and trading bans could be lifted.

The European Union is this month also expected to decide whether to renew its restrictive measures against Mugabe and scores of his allies.