Zimbabwe condemns G8 sanctions move

by Amy Judd | July 9, 2008 at 02:09 pm

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Mugabe has now come out and denounced the Group of Eight's decision to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe's officials, calling it 'a colonial and racist effort led by Britain and the United States to install a puppet government'.

See previous NowPublic coverage here.

A draft U.N. resolution calling for sanctions on President Robert Mugabe's government would include an arms embargo and financial and travel restrictions on 14 officials.

"We condemn this colonial and racist campaign against our country and government, but we are also very cognizant that it is Britain and the United States who are leading this campaign whose ultimate goal is to have their puppets in power," Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said.

The two Western allies successfully lobbied their G8 partners at a summit this week to back sanctions on Zimbabwe's leadership for holding a violent June 27 presidential poll boycotted by opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai.

They say Mugabe's re-election was a sham and want the 15-nation U.N. Security Council to also punish the 84-year-old ruler. Washington and other Western capitals are pushing for the council to vote for sanctions this week.

"There should be no safe haven and no hiding place for the criminal cabal that now make up the Mugabe regime," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a news conference at the end of the G8 summit in Japan.

Ndlovu said the issue did not belong in the council because Zimbabwe was not a threat to world peace and security -- a line also taken by council member South Africa.