EU broadens sanctions on allies of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe

The sanctions list will for the first time include companies registered in the EU, including in Britain, two EU diplomats said, without naming the firms. The EU officials said the assets of the firms, companies that the EU considers support Mr Mugabe's government, will be frozen. "They are Zimbabwe-based but registered in Europe, they are used by the regime to channel money out of the country," an EU diplomat said. "This is a big step regarding the Zimbabwe sanctions." The move, due to be finalised at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, will bring the bloc's Zimbabwe sanctions list to more than 200 people and 40 companies, by adding government members and relatives of Mr Mugabe's allies. EU ministers will also step up pressure on Mr Mugabe by urging a probe into whether diamond sales are being used to support his government. The move comes as Zimbabwe is in the grip of a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. In the once prosperous southern African country prices double every day and more than 2,000 people have died in a cholera epidemic. The epidemic could top 60,000 cases next week, UN figures showed on Friday, the biggest outbreak in Africa in over a decade. Despite international pressure for a deal, power-sharing talks between Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are deadlocked in a row over cabinet posts. South Africa will host a special regional summit on Monday to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe.