20101219
reuters

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Saturday threatened to act against companies from Western countries that have imposed sanctions on his party over suspected election fraud and rights abuses.

The 86-year-old leader repeated threats to nationalise foreign firms, threatening to retaliate against firms such as Rio Tinto and Anglo American, which operate in Zimbabwe.

"We ask them, think again, think now. Is it sanctions or no sanctions. We will be very, very strict to the extent of refusing investment from those countries (that have imposed sanctions)," Mugabe told ZANU-PF supporters at the end of the party's annual conference.

"If you have companies here, organisations here, we will work against them also."

He told reporters after the conference that the companies "have to get their mother countries to remove sanctions or there will be sanctions against them".

Anglo American and Rio Tinto together with financial services firms Barclays Plc and Standard Chartered and food group Nestle are some of the large foreign-owned companies with investments in Zimbabwe.

The government early this year published rules forcing foreign-owned companies worth over $500,000 to sell at least 51 percent of their shares to local blacks.