EU:Stepping up sanctions on Zimbabwe could end up hurting the country's citizens more than its leaders, senior UN and EU officials said yesterday.
"Sanctions have to be weighed very carefully because of experiences we've had in the past whereby sanctions have had a counter-productivity against innocent citizens of a particular country," UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro told reporters.
EU aid commissioner Louis Michel also warned of the possible consequences of sanctions.
"If these are sanctions that directly or indirectly affect the population or hit the minimum welfare they have a right to, I cannot accept that," he said.
Mr Michel said he had nothing against sanctions that did not affect the population but said of measures targeted at leaders: "I am not sure they work."
Mr Michel strongly condemned the Zimbabwean government's crackdown on members of the opposition, saying it breached democracy and human rights.