Zimbabwe’s president says no more concessions with the coalition until sanctions are abolished

Zimbabwe’s president says sanctions must go

HARARE, Zimbabwe — The Zimbabwe president says he won’t meet any further demands of the former opposition in a coalition government until Western sanctions called for by his longtime opponents are abolished.

President Robert Mugabe spoke Friday at a meeting of his ZANU-PF party’s 150 member policymaking committee. He said that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had failed to meet conditions of the 18-month-old coalition deal to have sanctions against Mugabe, his loyal elite and businesses aligned to his party removed.

Western nations have said Mugabe has not done enough on democratic reform to warrant the easing of travel, banking and other restrictions.

Outstanding disputes have crippled the work of the coalition. Mugabe’s remarks were seen as a setback to regional mediation efforts to end the nation’s political crisis.