ENI – Rev. Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, which supported comprehensive sanctions against apartheid South Africa, has issued a warning against imposing an economic embargo on Zimbabwe.
"Children and women are among the first to suffer if world governments choose to impose economic sanctions," Kobia said in July, after the United States introduced a draft resolution on Zimbabwe to the UN Security Council. The draft asks for an arms embargo, and a travel ban and assets freeze against President Robert Mugabe and 11 of his top aides.
Kobia said, "There are still varying opinions as to how to move forward after what can be described as a faÁade election."
On June 29 Mugabe was declared the victor in a presidential election in which he had become the sole candidate. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had previously pulled out of the poll, citing escalating violence against his supporters.
