European aid hope for Mugabe

Strasbourg - The European Commission adopted a carrot-and-stick policy towards Zimbabwe yesterday, holding out the prospect of more aid if human rights were improved. The report was critical of the run-up to the elections, won narrowly by the ruling ZANU-PF party, finding evidence of widespread intimidation of voters and exclusion of others from electoral rolls, but gave a positive assessment of the way voting and counting were conducted.