President Emmerson Mnangagwa and some of his inner circle remain sanctioned by the US, which has also paused its participation in talks to clear Zimbabwe's international debts.

President Joe Biden has scrapped the US's 21-year-old sanctions regimen against Zimbabwe and replaced it with a new set of sanctions targeted more narrowly at Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and members of his inner circle.

Biden's announcement has created confusion, especially in Zimbabwe, where some government supporters welcomed the "lifting of US sanctions" on social media. But the new measures could be just as tough, if not tougher, for those targeted.

Biden announced the new policy with an executive order on Monday, saying it was "part of an ongoing effort to ensure we are promoting accountability for serious human rights abuse and corruption in a targeted and strategic manner".

Biden's order ended the sanctions which President George Bush had imposed in March 2003 on the then president, Robert Mugabe, and members of his government for undermining Zimbabwean democracy and which were expanded in November 2005 and July 2008.

In place of these measures, Biden ordered "a new set of tools in Zimbabwe, including the flagship Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program, to make clear that the egregious behaviour of some of the most powerful people and companies in Zimbabwe matches the actions of the worst human rights abusers and corrupt actors globally",...