Statement by the President

On Friday, the Mugabe regime held a sham election that ignored the will of the people of Zimbabwe. The international community has condemned the Mugabe regime's ruthless campaign of politically-motivated violence and intimidation with a strong and unified voice that makes clear that yesterday's election was in no way free and fair. Any legitimate government of Zimbabwe must represent the interests of all its citizens and the outcome of the March 29 elections.

Given the Mugabe regime's blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights, I am instructing the Secretaries of State and Treasury to develop sanctions against this illegitimate Government of Zimbabwe and those who support it. We will press for strong action by the United Nations, including an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and travel ban on regime officials. We will continue to work closely with the African Union, Southern African Development Community, and other world leaders to resolve this crisis.

The United States stands ready to support a legitimate government through a robust package of development assistance, debt relief, and normalization with international financial institutions. In the meantime, we will continue to support the people of Zimbabwe by providing food assistance to more than one million people and AIDS treatment to more than 40,000 people.

Statement issued by the White House June 28 2008