UK threatens increased targeted Zimbabwe sanctions

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday he would push for more targeted sanctions against Robert Mugabe’s regime, and again described it as a "criminal and discredited cabal" which "should not be recognised by anybody".

He told MPs the regime had made it impossible to hold fair elections and "state sponsored terror" had put opposition party MDC in an "untenable position". He said Britain would offer "substantial help" for reconstruction "once democracy has been restored".

The prime minister also said the international community had to send a powerful message that it would not recognise "fraudulent election rigging" and "the violence and intimidation of a criminal and discredited cabal".