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Britain said on Thursday it wanted to see further progress on human rights and democracy in Zimbabwe before the European Union lifts sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his allies.Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended sanctions on Zimbabwe after talks with South African President Jacob Zuma who has called for them to be lifted.
Zuma played down a controversy caused by comments he made just before he left for a pomp-filled state visit to Britain in which he accused the British of believing they were superior.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, regularly accuses the British and their Western allies of ruining the Zimbabwean economy through sanctions.
"The sanctions that the European Union has in place do not target Zimbabwe or Zimbabweans, they target individuals who are responsible for violence and a number of businesses linked to them," Brown said at a news conference with Zuma.
"We have reduced sanctions on some companies, we are ready to respond to other progress as it is made but I do emphasise the importance of the work of these (Zimbabwe) commissions in emphasising human rights, the freedom of the press and the reforms of governance," he added.
Mugabe and his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity government last year and have agreed on commissions to drive media, electoral and human rights reforms.
But the commissions have been slow to get off the ground and the two sides remain at odds over other issues.
