UN envoy suggests that US lift sanctions against Zimbabwe

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A United Nations special envoy has urged the United States to end sanctions that she says have worsened Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis, while urging dialogue to end the impasse between the two countries. The U.N envoy on unilateral coercive measures, Alena Douhan, has been in Zimbabwe for nearly two weeks investigating the impact of sanctions on the southern African country. The U.S imposed travel and financial sanctions on Zimbabwe’s political, military and economic elite as well as companies linked to the state about two decades ago. This followed violent mass seizures of white-owned land and alleged vote-rigging and human rights violations by the late authoritarian President Robert Mugabe.