Mugabe tells West to 'go and hang'

Mugabe tells West to 'go and hang'

• Doctors reveal injuries to oppisition activists

• Police stations bombed, MDC accused

• Zimbabwe warns Tsvangirai 'will pay a heavy price'

• Mutambara released, Tsvangirai still in hospital

• US, Britain and New Zealand condemn arrests

• Tsvangirai beaten up as fears grow for Biti, Mutambara

• Police shoot dead MDC supporter in Highfield

• Tsvangirai, Mutambara arrested in joint rally

• Mugabe bans rallies on birthday

• Morgan Tsvangirai: we must express ourselves through action

• David Coltart: a descent into lawlessness

• Mutambara: defying Mugabe, a call to action

• Morgan Tsvangirai: The time to act is now!

• Mutambara: setting the Zimbabwean agenda for 2007

By Staff Reporters

ZIMBABWE'S President Robert Mugabe on Thursday told Western critics of his government they could "go and hang" in his first comments on the recent crackdown on the opposition.

"When they criticise the government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence, we take the position that they can go hang," Mugabe said after talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

Mugabe blamed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change for the violence, which has seen police shoot dead one opposition supporter and badly beat Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of others.

Mugabe blasted: "Here are groups of people who went out of their way to effect acts of violence.

"We hear no criticism to this campaign from Western governments."

The United States said Thursday it is considering fresh sanctions against Zimbabwe's government, a senior official said Wednesday.

"The US has a number of sanctions in place against those responsible for repressing democratic activities in Zimbabwe and we do need to take a look at what other measures might be appropriate," said State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey.

He would not elaborate on what sanctions could be added to current US measures, which primarily involve travel bans and financial restrictions on individual officials and a suspension of direct aid to the Harare government.

"There's always other tools in the toolbox and I certainly expect we'll look at those," he said.

A senior State Department human rights official, Barry Lowenkron, will also raise the Zimbabwe issue with the African Union during a visit to its Addis Ababa headquarters on Thursday, he said.

"We're also going to be consulting with a number of other like-minded countries, including some of our European allies ... to see what other kinds of things we might be able to do," he said.

The action came after Zimbabwe police broke up an opposition rally on Sunday, arresting dozens of politicians and severely beating several, including Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Tsvangirai was hospitalised in intensive care on Wednesday amid an international uproar over the incident that included condemnations from US, British, European and African leaders.

Casey called on the UN Human Rights Council, which is currently in session in Geneva, to join in condemning Mugabe's government for having "so blatantly and so violently taken actions against the principle leaders of the opposition."

"Frankly, with the council meeting right now in Geneva it would be hard to understand how they wouldn't want to turn their attention to serious cases of human rights abuse and violations as is occurring in Zimbabwe," he said.

Current US sanctions against Zimbabwe, imposed in 2002 and 2003, include financial and visa restrictions against selected officials, a ban on transfers of defense items and services and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.

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