British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told visiting South African President Jacob Zuma that international sanctions against Zimbabwe should not be lifted until human rights and media censorship concerns are addressed, BBC online reports Thursday.
BBC said the two effectively disagreed over the issue and that Mr Zuma had made it clear that if lasting change did not happen in Zimbabwe, some people could use the sanctions as an excuse.
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity government last year but remain at odds.
The EU says sanctions are still needed to keep pressure on Mr Mugabe to live up to his commitments on political and economic reform. But Mr Zuma has said easing the measured could help the country resolve outstanding political differences.
Mr Brown said it was “vital” that commissions set up by the government to increase protec-tion for human rights and freedom of speech and to support democratic institutions conclu-ded their work quickly.
Zuma raised con-cerns about the consistency of some of the measures taken against allies of President Mugabe: – Some ministers are able to travel all over the world, others are not. Clearly, there is no equality in that type of situation, he said.
This week, the US announced it would extend sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year, saying its protracted political crisis remained unresolved despite the power-sharing agreement.
Both the EU and the US maintain a travel ban and asset freeze on President Mugabe, his wife and inner circle. The US trade ban complies to 250 Zimbabwean individuals and 17 companies.
