Cut sanction on Zimbabwe: Norway

NORWAY yesterday called for a "reduction of sanctions" against Zimbabwe to boost mediation efforts in the country by SA.

Such a move would reinforce SA's campaign for the US and the European Union to lift targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe's inner circle.

In 2008 SA negotiated a power- sharing agreement between Mr Mugabe's Zanu (PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Speaking after meeting the South African delegation yesterday, Norway's International Development and Environment Minister Erik Solheim said: "I think we should reduce sanctions against Zimbabwe. We generally believe that the sanctions were not successful, we must engage with the Zimbabweans and should avoid sanctions which are not called for by the democratic forces within Zimbabwe itself.

"We believe that the (political) situation is better than it was before (as a consequence of the power- sharing agreement)."
The power-sharing agreement obliges Zimbabwe's unity government to draft a new constitution ahead of new elections. However, . the process had stalled.

Speaking from Nigeria yesterday, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC urged Nigeria and the African Union to help ensure his country does not become "another Ivory Coast" amid disputes over upcoming elections.

"I am just updating him (Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan) so that they can play a more active role in ensuring that we can go to the elections next year hopefully in a free and fair manner so that we put a closure to the dispute in Zimbabwe," Mr Tsvangirai said.

Elections in Cote d'lvoire in November last year led to a five- I month standoff and two weeks of war sparked by former president Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to concede to the widely recognised winner of the vote, President Alassane Ouattara.