Botswana's foreign minister says the international community must isolate Zimbabwe to end the regime of President Robert Mugabe.
In
an interview aired on British radio Wednesday, Phandu Skelemani also
said African countries need to close their borders with Zimbabwe.
Skelemani said President Mugabe could not stay in power if his
landlocked country was cut off from fuel for a week.
Power-sharing
talks between Mr. Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change have stalled since the sides signed a
basic agreement in September.
The talks resumed in South Africa Tuesday, but MDC officials say they are pessimistic about reaching a final deal.
The parties are divided over which will control key ministries in a proposed unity government.
On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an agreement is urgent in light of Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis.
The
U.N. says more than 360 people have died and almost nine-thousand have
been infected in a cholera outbreak that began three months ago.
Zimbabwe's
deputy health minister, Edwin Maguti, said Wednesday the situation is
"under control," and that there is no need to declare an emergency.
The deputy health minister blamed the cholera cases on sanctions
imposed by Western governments.
Those sanctions are travel bans
and asset freezes aimed at individual government officials and Mugabe
allies. The United States sanctioned four more supporters of Mugabe on
Tuesday, saying they had helped the Zimbabwean leader undermine
democracy.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
