Cholera Spreads In Zimbabwe

It has killed 2,773 people out of 50,003 cases, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures released on Friday.

Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic could top 60,000 cases next week, U.N. figures showed on Friday, the biggest outbreak in Africa in over a decade, pressuring rival parties to form a government to tackle the humanitarian crisis.

Zimbabwe has little hope of easing the cholera epidemic, which has killed nearly 2,800 people, and averting economic collapse without a power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition, analysts say.

Both Mugabe and his old foe Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), show no sign of compromise ahead of next week's regional summit aimed at breaking the deadlock in negotiations.

Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic is "far from under control" and could exceed 60,000 cases over next week, the Red Cross warned in Geneva on Friday.

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has come under pressure from Western powers, who want him to step down and are pushing for a democratic government to embrace economic reforms before billions of dollars in aid is offered.

The European Union will add more than 25 individuals and 36 companies to a list of banned allies of Mugabe on Monday because of their links to suspected human rights abuses, an EU official said in Brussels. Zimbabwe's government denies allegations of human rights abuses.

The sanctions list will for the first time include companies registered in the 27-nation European Union, including in Britain, two EU diplomats said, without naming the firms.

The move, due to be finalised at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, will add new government members and relatives of Mugabe allies to an existing list of around 170 individuals banned from travelling in the bloc.

"It will for the first time include EU companies," the official said, without giving further details of how the ban would affect their activities in the EU.

EU sanctions on Zimbabwean officials were initially triggered by the seizure of white-owned farms under Mugabe's land distribution programme, and his disputed re-election in 2002.

Sanctions have failed to weaken Mugabe, who has accused the MDC of working with Western powers to oust him. He has remained defiant through several rounds of negotiations on implementing the September pact that has stalled over control of cabinet ministries.

The EU ministers will also look to step up pressure on Mugabe by urging a probe into whether diamond sales are being used to support his government, a draft obtained by Reuters showed.

The draft urges the Kimberley Process, an international certification scheme set up to ensure diamonds do not fund conflict, "to take action with a view to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with its Kimberley obligations".

The cholera crisis has added to the sense of urgency in a country ravaged by the world's highest rate of inflation, severe food and fuel shortages and a virtually worthless currency.

It has killed 2,773 people out of 50,000 cases, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) figures released on Friday.

Mugabe has urged the opposition to join a unity government but has made it clear he would not hesitate to name one without them. Tsvangirai has said no deal is possible unless party activists are released from jail.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will make another attempt to mediate a breakthrough at a summit on Monday in South Africa, current chair of the regional grouping.

South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma took a softer line than the EU on sanctions, which is likely to reinforce the view that some African states should do more to help find a solution.

Asked if South Africa -- the regional power with the most diplomatic and economic clout -- would propose sanctions against Mugabe and his government, she told a news conference:

"If there are sanctions to be implemented or proposed, these should be sanctions against everyone who is impeding progress to finding a solution. They should not be geared towards one group."