OTTAWA (CP) - Canada has cut off all funding to Zimbabwe's government and has barred its officials from entering the country, Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Thursday. Chretien moved so quickly to impose the limited sanctions, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham was still in the dark on the action late Thursday.
A Commonwealth report decried the weekend elections as violent, chaotic and blatantly tilted in favour of President Robert Mugabe - who was declared the winner.
The prime minister announced the Canadian sanctions after his White House meeting with President George W. Bush.
Earlier in the day, Chretien read the damning report on last weekend's Zimbabwean vote.
"The report came this afternoon," Chretien said during a news conference.
"It looked pretty bad."
"There is no further relationship, economic or financial."
Zimbabwe's high commissioner has not been asked to leave Ottawa and Canada isn't planning to withdraw its representative for now, Chretien said.
The White House, which is considering its own sanctions, was incredulous at reports some African leaders were praising the election.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush was concerned about the African leaders' statements.
"From the president's point of view, arguments that elections were flawed (but) are still acceptable send a negative signal to the rest of the world about African states' commitment to the rule of law and democracy," he said.
Observer missions from Norway, southern Africa, Canada and Zimbabwe described a complex tapestry of intimidation, unfair laws and chaotic voting procedures that tipped the poll in Mugabe's favour.
Mugabe has led the southern Africa country since the end of white-minority rule, was once hailed as a model of African statesmanship. But for the last two years, he has resorted to violence to cement his hold on power.
Chretien's statement said the Zimbabwean people showed courage and determination in exercising their democratic rights "under difficult circumstances."
"We implore the Zimbabwean government to provide transparent legal recourse to those arrested or detained in recent days," the statement said.
But many African leaders praised the elections, with the Organization of African Unity observer mission calling them "transparent, credible, free and fair."
Analysts criticized the West for ignoring the most flawed elections on the continent - including one this weekend in the Republic of Congo - and focusing only on the vote in a country with a significant white population.
"That sense of double standards can't be emphasized enough," said Salih Booker, director of the advocacy group Africa Action.
Mugabe's return to power has won broad support from African leaders.
The observer mission from South Africa declared the election legitimate. The Nigerian observers said nothing that happened threatened the integrity of the poll. Namibia called the election "successful."
South Africa's deputy president Jacob Zuma paid a courtesy call on Mugabe Thursday as the South African government said it was studying the diverse statements of the different observer missions and would make a statement in due course.
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi praised Mugabe's victory and Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa sent a glowing letter of congratulations.
"You have been firm defending the inalienable right of the people of your country to free, democratic and sovereign governance, a right they had to fight, and some of their comrades had to die for," Mkapa wrote.
"It would be a great tragedy for anyone to try and determine the outcome of an African election in Europe. Your firmness was good for all of Africa."
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