A senior member of President Robert Mugabe's party says there is "no constitutional" provision forcing the ageing leader to appoint Roy Bennett as Zimbabwe's deputy agriculture minister. Zanu-PF's secretary for security, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said yesterday that Mugabe was under no obligation to make the long-awaited appointment. His remarks, a day after Bennett was acquitted by the Harare High Court of terror charges, mark the first signs that Mugabe was not likely to stick to his word.

For more than a year Mugabe has refused to appoint Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's choice for deputy agriculture minister until he was cleared by the courts of "serious charges". On Monday Judge Chinembiri Bhunu ruled that Bennett was not guilty of the terror charges because the state failed to prove its case.

 

Zimbabwe's reform-minded Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday urged the United States to recognise that Zimbabwe has made progress toward democracy as he appeared to suggest it ease sanctions. But there was no sign US President Barack Obama's administration would ease sanctions targeted at President Robert Mugabe and his loyalists, the people with whom Tsvangirai has shared power uneasily for more than a year. The United States - along with the European Union - maintains a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe, his wife and inner circle in protest at controversial elections and alleged human rights abuses by his government. In an interview with AFP and another journalist, Tsvangirai appeared to make the case for at least an easing of US sanctions when he visited Washington for talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He came "to update her on the latest situation in the country in terms of where the bottlenecks are, where progress has been made, and what the United States should do," the premier said.

 

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met Tuesday in Washington with key members of the U.S. Senate who told him that while legislation has been introduced to make sanctions more flexible, those against President Robert and other ZANU-PF officials will stay in place until a 2008 power-sharing agreement is fully implemented. Mr. Tsvangirai told VOA that this was the salient point of his discussions with U.S. Senators including Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Russell Feingold. Mr. Tsvangirai welcomed the introduction of the new sanctions legislation, saying it will help advance democracy in the country by rewarding those who are working to restore stability and the rule of law in the country. The Senate bill would provide technical assistance to reform-minded ministries and promote agricultural development through policies aimed at re-establishing secure land tenure, among other measures.