Merkel hopes for African leaders’ support on Zimbabwe sanctions

GERMANY: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that she hopes African leaders will support tougher sanctions against Zimbabwe when they participate at the upcoming Group of Eight summit.

Leaders including South African President Thabo Mbeki, whom Zimbabwe’s opposition has accused of bias toward President Robert Mugabe, and Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua have been invited to a meeting as part of the summit in Japan, starting Monday.

Merkel told The Associated Press this week that the European Union would seek “all possible sanctions” against Zimbabwe’s government and leader in the wake of its widely denounced presidential election runoff.

She underlined that stance in her weekly video message, in which she looked ahead to the G-8 summit.

Berlin, Sunday, AP