G8 to impose sanctions on Mugabe circle

By Nelson Banya

HARARE (Reuters) - The Group of Eight rich nations agreed on Tuesday to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe's leadership because of violence during the widely condemned re-election of President Robert Mugabe.

The United States and Britain, among the fiercest critics of the veteran leader, had lobbied for a strong stand at a G8 summit in Japan after he was declared winner of a June 27 poll boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

A number of G8 nations already have financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and his inner circle.

"We will take further steps, inter alia introducing financial and other measures against those individuals responsible for the violence," the G8 said in statement at its summit in Japan.

The grouping of major industrial powers said Mugabe's re-election had occurred without the necessary conditions required for a free and fair vote.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai withdrew six days before the election because of violence by pro-Mugabe militias which the MDC said killed 103 of its supporters.

Mugabe blames his opponents for the bloodshed.

The G8 leaders added that they did not accept the legitimacy of any government that did not reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the statement showed the international community was united against the 84-year-old Zimbabwean ruler, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

The statement came as the United States and other Western countries pushed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to vote this week to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he believed there were enough council members in favor of a U.S.-drafted sanctions resolution, which would impose targeted sanctions on individuals in the government and an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

But such a resolution could face stiff resistance from China or Russia, each of which has a veto in the Council. Although Russia signed onto the G8 statement, Moscow has expressed misgivings about sanctions, which are also opposed by African nations.

France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said he believed there would be enough Security Council votes to pass the sanctions resolution this week.

ZIMBABWE SEES TALKS

Mugabe lost a March 29 presidential election to Tsvangirai but the latter fell short of an absolute majority, forcing a second round.