[JURIST] US Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad [official profile] submitted a draft resolution in the UN Security Council [official website] Thursday calling for sanctions against Zimbabwe's newly reinstalled president Robert Mugabe [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and eleven of his government and security aides. The sanctions are said to include an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, and travel bans and asset freezes on Mugabe and his associates. Khalilzad said in a statement [press release] that Mugabe and his regime had ignored a statement by the UN Security Council [text; JURIST report] condemning the increased violence surrounding the recent presidential run-off elections [JURIST news archive] and that calls from the international community to postpone the run-off had been disregarded:
So we have proposed a resolution that will impose targeted sanctions on those that are responsible for the political crisis. With the expectation and hope that they will be incentivized to cooperate to resolving the crisis of legitimacy, to creating a government there that represents – genuinely represents the legitimate representatives of the people of Zimbabwe.
The draft calls for Zimbabwe's government to accept mediation efforts by the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official websites]. The resolution is expected to be voted on next week. AFP has more. Reuters has additional coverage.