US to impose sanctions on Zimbabweans with close ties to President Mugabe

The United States will impose travel and financial sanctions against 38 additional individuals and two companies with ties to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, a senior State Department official said. Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, warned in a speech Monday that the US will expand the sanctions further if violence does not cease. She did not identify the individuals or the companies affected, but said they included nine state security officials and five adult children of Zimbabwean government officials studying in the United States. Given Mugabe's escalated use of violence, "the United States will be imposing additional sanctions against the worst perpetrators of the regime's brutality...and human rights abuses," Frazer said, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.