RAPAPORT… President George W. Bush signed an executive order today to expand sanctions against Zimbabwe. The U.S. president called Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugbe’s rule an “illegitimate regime.”
The executive order prohibits individuals and entities closely linked with Mugabe to operate with U.S. firms. It also forbids U.S. residents and businesses from conducting financial or commercial transactions with rough diamond supplier Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.
“No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences,” President Bush wrote in a statement.
“Should ongoing talks in South Africa between Mugabe’s regime and the Movement of Democratic Change result in a new government that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people, the United States stands ready to provide a substantial assistance package, development aid, and normalization with international financial institutions,” President Bush wrote.
The Treasury Department designated 17 entities and one individual that it says has supported Mugabe and those assets would be frozen.
The full list
-The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, the marketing and export agent for diamonds and minerals.
-The Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp., which is involved in investment in the mining industry.
-Thamer Bin Saeed Ahmed al-Shanfari, an Omani national with close ties to the Mugabe regime, and his company, Oryx Natural Resources, which al-Shanfari allegedly uses to enable Mugabe and his senior officials to derive personal benefit from various mining ventures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
-OSLEG, also known as Operation Sovereign Legitimacy, a commercial arm of the Zimbabwean army.
-Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Co., the nation’s largest steel works.
-Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe, a commercial bank owned by the government.
-Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe Ltd., a state-owned enterprise that owns a large number of companies operating in the industrial sector.
-Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe, a financing entity.
-Zimre Holdings Ltd., an investment and reinsurance entity.
-ZB Financial Holdings Ltd., a holding company for a group of companies involved in commercial and merchant banking, and four of its major subsidiaries: ZB Bank Ltd., ZB Holdings Ltd., Intermarket Holdings Ltd. and Scotfin Ltd.
-Divine Homes, a property company run by David Chapfika, Zimbabwe’s deputy minister of agriculture.
-COMOIL Ltd., a petroleum importing company owned by Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe’s deputy minister of youth development and employment.
-Famba Safaris, a safari operation in Zimbabwe, whose director and major shareholder is Webster Shamu, Mugabe’s minister of state for policy implementation.