HARARE — Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party will not make concessions in talks with its partners in the unity government until sanctions imposed by Western nations are lifted, the party said.

The ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and its splinter group are currently discussing issues involving the appointment of key government officials, more than year after the signing of the unity pact.

"The ZANU-PF politburo therefore instructs its negotiators on the global political agreement to desist from making concessions in the negotiations until the sanctions are removed," the party said in a statement.

The party has repeatedly accused Tsvangirai of supporting the sanctions imposed by the West on Mugabe and his inner circle.

Calling Tsvangirai's party "a tool of the British and Western imperialism", ZANU-PF said the party had called for the sanctions and should call for their removal to restore trust among the parties in the government.

The statement came after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's said Britain's stance on the sanctions would depend on consultations with Tsvangirai's MDC party.

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