Divisions have rocked the European Union about whether to renew targeted measures against Robert Mugabe (pictured)and his regime cronies or heed Morgan Tsvangirai’s plea to end them to try and coax the geriatric Zimbabwean leader into fulfilling outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement which ushered in Zimbabwe’s unity government early last year.

The EU’s council of ministers meets on 16 February to decide on the matter and authoritative diplomatic sources say it is now most likely that some names would be struck off the sanctions list as a compromise among the differing EU countries. But these would mainly be names of companies sanctioned over their close links to regime cronies and not those of targeted individuals.

The authoritative diplomatic sources said some countries led by Germany and Denmark favoured an easing of the measures to try and prod Mugabe into cooperating with Tsvangirai in addressing all outstanding issues in the GPA.

JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwe’s Co-Ministers of Home Affairs have urged thousands of Zimbabweans living in neighbouring South Africa to return home and said police were willing to consider dropping some charges against political activists.

Addressing a gathering last Saturday in Sandton, Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa (pictured)said exiled Zimbabweans, among them some of the country’s most skilled business and financial technocrats, should return to help in the reconstruction of the country’s economy.
“The Zimbabwe inclusive government is ready to drop all charges against political activists and specified business people, who are currently living outside the country.

It is time to rebuild our nation,” said Mohadi, a member of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.
Mutsekwa, from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party, said the unity government was working to improve the country’s economy that is showing signs of recovery after a decade in recession.
“The onus is on us as an inclusive government to ensure there is prosperity in our country, and this is exactly what we are trying to achieve,” said Mutsekwa.

ZIMBABWE is sitting on two million diamond carats worth more than US$100 million, a record extraction that could greatly boost the country’s economic turnaround efforts, a Cabinet minister has said.

In an interview last week, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Cde Obert Mpofu(pictured), said the diamonds were mined at the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the last two months.
He said authorities were working to satisfy Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) conditions before trading the precious stones.

He revealed that foreign experts, among them Namibians and South Africans, were assisting in this regard.
“We have enough product now to change the fortunes of this country,” he said.“I cannot, however, at the moment state when the sales will be conducted save to say that we will give the go-ahead once all the stakeholders are satisfied.”