Mugabe lashes out at Britain

16/07/2008| IslamWeb

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday accused Britain of trying to seize control of resources in the devastated African nation as his government announced inflation had risen to 2.2 million percent.

Mugabe, re-elected last month in a widely condemned vote boycotted by the opposition, regularly blames his country's economic collapse on former colonial ruler Britain and accuses it of plotting to overthrow his government.

The 84-year-old Zimbabwean ruler has branded the opposition Movement for Democratic Change a British and American puppet.

"What is Zimbabwe to Britain? The answer has not been provided, but we know what they want. It's regime change, so the resources of our country can come under their control," Mugabe said at the televised launch of a food subsidy programme.

Zimbabweans are suffering chronic shortages of meat, maize, fuel and other basic commodities due to the collapse of the once prosperous economy, which critics blame on Mugabe's policies, including his violent seizure of white-owned farms.

Central bank Governor Gideon Gono announced on Wednesday that inflation had surpassed 2 million percent, a figure already calculated by economists, some of whom now put it much higher.

Officials last calculated inflation, the highest in the world, at 164,900 percent in February.

The worsening economy could add to pressure on the ruling ZANU-PF party to make concessions to the MDC, which has refused to recognise Mugabe's overwhelming victory in the June 27 presidential run-off. 

 

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won a March 29 first round but failed to get the absolute majority needed to avoid a second ballot. Tsvangirai pulled out of that poll, citing violence by pro-Mugabe militia.

The MDC says at least 113 supporters have been killed since March. Mugabe blames the opposition for the bloodshed.

At the urging of African nations, the MDC and ZANU-PF began preliminary talks last week under South African mediation to work out a framework for more substantial negotiations that could pave the way for a government of national unity.

The talks have made no progress so far, with Tsvangirai demanding that Mugabe recognise his victory in the March poll and halt the violence against the MDC. Mugabe insists that the opposition accept his re-election, which extended his 28 years in power.

 

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Mugabe

 

 

Reuters