Merkel takes tough stance on Zimbabwe sanctions

"We will take up the issue again within the EU, under the leadership of the French presidency," Merkel said. "We will think up all possible sanctions and check to see what more we can do, such as travel bans" for members of Mugabe's regime.

The EU, which is calling for new elections, said Friday it was ready to consider "appropriate measures" against those responsible for violence in Zimbabwe, but did not elaborate. The U.S. also is seeking international sanctions against Mugabe and his top aides.

In a wide-ranging interview this week in her vast office with sweeping views of the Reichstag parliament building, Merkel spoke of her priorities ahead of next week's summit of Group of Eight industrialized nations in Japan--and cited Zimbabwe as a key issue on the agenda.

She hinted that the G-8 may apply pressure on African leaders invited to the summit to take a more forceful position against Mugabe. A gathering of African Union leaders in Egypt failed to yield a strong unified message over voting widely dismissed as a farce after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out, citing violence and intimidation.

"We will speak to the African countries that are invited to the summit. And we will of course all voice our opinions about Zimbabwe," she said.

Merkel said G-8 leaders would strive to find solutions to the food crisis that threatens millions in poor nations with hunger--and emphasized the need to help developing nations help themselves through modern agricultural reforms.

"Germany will come up with a contribution of a half-a billion euros for the coming years to support agriculture in the developing countries," Merkel said. "The cooperation in development needs to be more concentrated on water management and agriculture."

Merkel said the G-8 summit will provide a chance to continue work on issues such as climate change and the state of the global economy begun the year before, when she hosted the gathering in the German seaside resort of Heiligendamm.

That summit was lauded as a success for the German leader, who was raised in the former East Germany and became the nation's first woman chancellor in Nov. 2005. Since then she has enjoyed solid support, despite leading a fractious coalition of her conservative Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats.