Zimbabwe demanded on Wednesday that the United States lift "illegal" economic sanctions against the country, saying the new targeted measures against President Emmerson Mnangagwa and top leaders were merely "stopgap measures".

Washington has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe since the early 2000s, with former US president George W. Bush advocating tough measures against the southern African country, then controlled by strongman Robert Mugabe.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden's administration imposed sanctions on 11 Zimbabweans, including Mnangagwa and three companies, citing rights abuses and corruption, replacing previous broader measures.

The order blocks any assets they hold in the United States and bans them from unofficial travel to the country.

The Zimbabwean government said that "all these measures were then illegal and unjustified, they remain so to this day and until they are abandoned unconditionally".

Washington must provide evidence to back up its "gratuitous accusations" and "nothing less than the immediate and unconditional removal" of the "illegal coercive measures" will be acceptable to Zimbabwe, he added.

The lifting of previous sanctions "can never atone for, let alone annul, the heinous crimes committed against Zimbabwe", which "cannot be expected to thank" the United States for the "palliative measures" announced on Monday.

Zimbabwe regularly blames US sanctions for the disastrous economic crisis that has affected the country for more than two decades.

There were hopes of a thaw in relations after Mnangagwa took power following Mugabe's deposition in 2017.

Mnangagwa was re-elected in 2023 in a vote marred by allegations of fraud and his ruling party, ZANU-PF, has been in power for more than 40 years.

Source: AFP