By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - The Group of Eight rich nations agreedon Tuesday to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe's leadershipbecause of violence during the widely condemned re-election ofPresident Robert Mugabe.
The United States and Britain, among the fiercest criticsof the veteran leader, had lobbied for a strong stand at a G8summit in Japan after he was declared winner of a June 27 pollboycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
A number of G8 nations already have financial and travelrestrictions on Mugabe and his inner circle.
"We will take further steps, inter alia introducingfinancial and other measures against those individualsresponsible for the violence," the G8 said in statement at itssummit in Japan.
The grouping of major industrial powers said Mugabe'sre-election had occurred without the necessary conditionsrequired for a free and fair vote.
Movement for Democratic Change leader Tsvangirai withdrewsix days before the election because of violence by pro-Mugabemilitias which the MDC said killed 103 of its supporters.
Mugabe blames his opponents for the bloodshed.
The G8 leaders added that they did not accept thelegitimacy of any government that did not reflect the will ofthe Zimbabwean people.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the statement showed theinternational community was united against the 84-year-oldZimbabwean ruler, who has been in power since independence fromBritain in 1980.
The statement came as the U.N. Security Council prepared todiscuss a U.S. and British-backed call to tighten a financialnoose around the top echelon of Zimbabwe's government, whocould find it more difficult to move money, buy assets andtravel overseas.
But such a resolution could face stiff resistance fromChina or Russia, each of which has a veto in the Council.Although Russia signed onto the G8 statement, Moscow hasexpressed misgivings about sanctions, which are also opposed byAfrican nations.
France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Maurice Ripert, said hebelieved there would be enough Security Council votes to passthe sanctions resolution this week.
ZIMBABWE SEES TALKS
Mugabe lost a March 29 presidential election to Tsvangiraibut the latter fell short of an absolute majority, forcing asecond round.
Despite warnings from the G8 that investment flows intoAfrica could suffer if Mugabe was not dealt with, there islittle support on the world's poorest continent for sanctions.
South African President Thabo Mbeki and a number of otherAfrican heads of state told the summit in Japan that they wereagainst sanctions.
"All of them (African leaders) who were there expressedreservations on sanctions," South African Foreign AffairsMinister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a joint pressconference with Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Pretoria.
The African Union is worried that harsh treatment of Mugabecould derail prospects of a negotiated settlement of the crisisin Zimbabwe, which is suffering an economic meltdown marked byhyperinflation and chronic food and fuel shortages.
The AU favours talks leading to a unity government.
Tsvangirai on Tuesday denied a report in Zimbabwe'sstate-controlled Herald newspaper that the MDC had agreed toresume talks with the ruling ZANU-PF under Mbeki's mediation.The paper quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa.
Tsvangirai has said the opposition will not participate innegotiations until Mugabe's government halts the violenceagainst his supporters and accepts his victory in the Marchelection.
Tsvangirai refused to attend talks with Mbeki and Mugabe inHarare on Saturday because that would have endorsed his rival'sdisputed re-election. Tsvangirai accuses Mbeki of favouringMugabe and has called for expanded AU mediation.
(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Toyako, ClaudiaParsons at the United Nations and Gordon Bell in Pretoria;Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Barry Moody)
