Should the West End Zimbabwe Sanctions?

(07 Sep 09 - RV) African leaders meeting in The Democratic Republic of Congo stepped up calls today for an end to Western sanctions against Zimbabwe and urged South Africa to plead Harare's cause in the upcoming Group of 20 nations meeting. The Southern African Development Community countries also pressed Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to end a row over a power-sharing pact that is holding up vital foreign aid.
Zimbabwe says it needs $10 billion in foreign reconstruction aid, but Western nations are reluctant to release funds without political and economic reform. Dennis Benton, spokesperson for London’s Zimbabwe Vigil, says that it is President Mugabe to blame for the destruction of the economy.