EU looks to end sanctions on Zimbabwe miner

The EU has begun the process of lifting sanctions against one of Zimbabwe's largest mining companies after it was left on a blacklist earlier this year, an EU diplomat said Tuesday.

 

In February, the European Union suspended an assets freeze and visa ban against most Zimbabwean firms and individuals after what it judged to be a "credible" March referendum on a new constitution.

 

President Robert Mugabe however remained on the list along with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, a major diamond and gold miner which diplomats and NGOs claimed channelled funds to the president's ZANU-PF party.

 

The EU diplomat said senior member state representatives to the EU had discussed the issue in light of the February decision and were now beginning the process of delisting the company.

 

Any decision to remove the sanctions would require full approval by EU member states.

 

EU sanctions were originally imposed in 2002 on the grounds of political violence, human rights abuses and the failure to hold free and fair elections.

 

Britain, the former colonial power, suggested in July last year that the EU should begin lifting the sanctions if there was a "credible" vote on a new constitution.

 

Mugabe was declared the winner of July 31 elections, extending his 33-year rule by up to five years but the opposition led by Morgan Tsvangirai has described the poll as "a sham" and "a massive fraud".

 

-Sapa