United States says Zimbabwe poses threat

MUGABE: "A continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States"

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By Mduduzi Mathuthu

THE United States on Wedneday twisted the knife on President Robert Mugabe's regime in its strongest condemnation of his policies yet.

The US was also extending a freeze of assets belonging to President Mugabe as well as about 80 other prominent Zimbabwean nationals, the White House announced.

The sanctions were initially imposed on March 6 2003, in response to anti-democratic measures taken by authorities in Harare.

The latest upscaled rhetoric from the US comes barely two months after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice listed Zimbabwe as "an outpost of tyranny" alongside six other countries, including Syria and Iran.

The White House said in a statement the Zimbabwean government's "actions and policies pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States.

"The crisis constituted by the actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions has not been resolved," the statement added.

Last week, another senior figure in President George Bush's administration described Zimbabwe as a "textbook case of bad and illegitimate governance".

United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Thomas Woods blasted: "The overall trend towards good governance and democratic rule among the nations of western and southern Africa makes the downward spiral of Zimbabwe even more tragic and disheartening."

Mugabe rejects US criticism and accuses the Americans of plotting to oust his government through its policy of "regime change" and international freedom crusade which is at the heart of Bush's new term.
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