(NEWZIMBABWE) US delivers new Zimbabwe sanctions snub

COMMENT - Susan Page is a liar. I hope Zimbabwe starts to sell $1 billion in diamonds a month and laughs all the way to the bank. SADC should have it's own natural resource based bank, and never even think of the IMF or World Bank again. The Americans are making themselves irrelevant on the international scene. Blatant hypocrisy and lying does not make America stronger, it undermines it's reputation, as much as starting wars under false pretenses does. So get a grip, pull up your socks, and do the right thing, Obama Administration! Even if you have Hillary Clinton on board.

US delivers new Zimbabwe sanctions snub
by AFP/Staff Reporter
24/09/2010 00:00:00

THE United States has ruled out the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe after accusing President Robert Mugabe's supporters of continuing human rights abuses. “We really can't lift the sanctions at this time,” Susan Page, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, told reporters after meeting a cross-party Zimbabwean delegation on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

“We regularly review these sanctions,” she added. “But frankly as long as these violations of human rights, this lack of respect for civilian and political rights of the people of Zimbabwe, as long as they continue,” the sanctions must remain, she said.

Page claimed the sanctions were "targeted", adding: "The targets are individuals and a few institutions that we believe have been responsible for the policies and the actions that have to led to Zimbabwe's both economic and political decline."

President Robert Mugabe's supporters accuse the US of seeking "regime change" in Zimbabwe through the imposition of sanctions which target individuals close to the veteran leader, block debt relief to the Zimbabwe government and trade between American companies and some of Zimbabwe's state-owned enterprises.

Following the formation of a power sharing government in 2009 with opposition rivals Arthur Mutambara, now Deputy Prime Minister, and Morgan Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister, the three leaders have all called on the embargo to be lifted. In this, the Zimbabwe leaders have been supported by heads of state from the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika said: "The African Union feels the ideological justification (for the sanctions), if ever there was any, has outlived its time.

"Sanctions are also inconsistent with the emerging dialogue for the reform of the United Nations. Sanctions are also inconsistent with the obligations of the United Nations to promote social progress and economic development of people as promulgated in the preamble to the Charter of the UN.

"The African Union, therefore, appeals for the immediate lifting of sanctions against the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Cuba. We believe that the lifting of the sanctions will enable ordinary Zimbabweans and Cubans to begin a life of new hope and new progress."