THE European Union and the rest of the world must understand that the land issue in Zimbabwe was one of the major objectives of the war of liberation that the country waged against its former coloniser Britain, ZANU PF National Chairman, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo has said. Ambassador Khaya Moyo was speaking in a meeting with a visiting German parliamentary delegation at his offices this past Tuesday. He said Zimbabwe had decided to redistribute land to its people after Britain had failed to honour the promises it made during the Lancaster House Conference in 1979. “The issue of land is a very a sensitive matter in Zimbabwe and the EU and indeed the rest of the world must understand that the issue was one of the objectives of the liberation struggle,” said Ambassador Khaya Moyo. “So we fail to understand why we are being persecuted for giving back the land to our people like what is happening now where Britain has mobilised the whole world to turn against Zimbabwe for simply honouring a historical obligation of the war of liberation. “Everyone should understand that land was one of the sticking issues of the Lancaster House negotiations and today it still is as can be seen by the illegal economic sanctions that the West has slapped against the country.” Ambassador Khaya Moyo said the illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe were not targeted, but affecting everyone in the country and urged Germany to lift the widely discredited embargo. However, head of the German delegation Mr Stefan Liebich made it no secret that his country was not in a hurry to have sanctions lifted. He said his country would only do so if it is satisfied by the outcome of the country’s constitution-making process and the forthcoming elections. “We will only take steps and measures towards removing the sanctions once the situation on the ground improves,” said Liebich. “We have to assess the outcomes of the constitutionmaking process and the elections and if we are satisfied that they are free and fair then we will remove the sanctions.” Ambassador Khaya Moyo told the delegation to be guided by the real situation on the ground not on hearsay from other misguided people with their own agendas. He said Zimbabwe and Germany should enjoy the mutual relations that existed between the two nations before and advocated more trade between the two nations. He urged the delegation to invite people from Germany so that they could witness the real situation in Zimbabwe, not to depend on people who falsify issues about the country. The delegation expressed satisfaction and said it would help the country market its tourist sites.