EU mulls new Zimbabwe sanctions

Harare: President Robert Mugabe has vowed to leave office only "when land is returned to the country's black majority", despite the threat of fresh sanctions from the European Union.

European Union leaders are set to issue a new threat of further sanctions on Zimbabwe on Friday over violence that has scarred a flawed presidential election, a draft summit statement showed.

"Violence so far, intimidation and action taken against non-governmental organisations to suspend aid and international access to rural areas, heighten further the fears of the Zimbabwean people and the international community about the conditions under which this poll, crucial for the future of Zimbabwe, will be held," it said.

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat veteran President Robert Mugabe in a first round ballot on March 29, but the state electoral commission dragged out publication of the results for weeks and called for a second round of voting on June 27.

The EU text said a free and fair election was critical to the resolution of a political and economic crisis in the former British colony.

But it stopped short of backing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's assertion on Thursday that actions by Mugabe's government meant next week's run-off will not be free and fair.

EU leaders urged the Southern Africa Development Community and the African Union to deploy a significant number of election monitors and called for a swift and transparent vote count this time after lengthy delays in the first round.

"The European Council reiterates its readiness to take additional measures against those responsible for violence," it said.

EU sanctions currently include an arms embargo, and visa bans and freezing of assets on more than a hundred officials including Mugabe.

The sanctions were initially triggered by Zimbabwe's controversial land redistribution plan, which confiscated white-owned commercial farms, and Mugabe's disputed re-election in 2002.

The Movement for Democratic Change meanwhile said a "wave of brutality" has swept over Zimbabwe since the runoff was called.

Opposition candidate for president, Tsvangirai's message was distributed by e-mail, one of the few ways he has of reaching voters. His attempts to tour the country have regularly been stymied by police at road blocks, and the state-controlled media here all but ignore him.

Independent human rights activists have accused longtime President Robert Mugabe of deploying police, soldiers and party militants in attacks on the opposition meant to ensure he defeats Tsvangirai in the runoff.

The opposition says more than 60 of its activists alone have been killed, and the international community has become so concerned at the violence that some leaders have suggested the runoff be canceled.

The Movement for Democratic Change says the treason case against its secretary-general, Tendai Biti, is also part of a government plot to undermine it before the election.

After hearing two days of arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers, Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe ruled Friday that there were grounds to believe Biti had committed an offense and ordered him held until another hearing set for July 7 while police continue their investigations.

Biti was formally charged Thursday with treason, which can carry the death penalty; publishing false statements, insulting the president and another charge related to interfering with the military — police said Biti had spoken to generals about which military figures should step down if his party were to come to power.