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Mugabe: These things happen
London - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe threatened on Friday to "kick out" western ambassadors from Harare, and called British Prime Minister Tony Blair a "dictator" co-ordinating sanctions against his country. In a wide-ranging magazine interview, he also defended the recent beating of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying "these things happen" and warning that others will meet the same fate if they provoke the police. "If America wants a man like (US ambassador to Harare) Christopher Dell to remain here, then he's got to behave because we will not brook further nonsense from him," he told the London-based monthly New African magazine. "We have read them the riot act," he said, referring to western ambassadors accused of interfering in Harare. "If they continue to do that, we will certainly kick them out of the country. It doesn't matter who it is." The long-standing political tensions in Zimbabwe deteriorated in March when police assaulted Tsvangirai and scores of supporters and shot dead an activist as they broke up an anti-government rally. Mugabe defended the action against the opposition leader. "These things happen. It happens in war. It happens everywhere. If you challenge the police don't think they are going to be merciful with you," he said, alleging that Tsvangirai supporters had beaten a group of police. "So the police had that grudge also. They are also human beings. Let us bear that in mind," he added, warning opposition supporters that "if they dare challenge the police, they will get more Tsvangirais beaten up". The Zimbabwean leader rounded on critics who describe Zimbabwe as a "dictatorship" - and pointed the finger at Blair for reneging on a deal to provide compensation for land reform after the country's independence in 1980. "He is very much more of a dictator than any dictator I have read about in modern times in Britain and in Europe," he told the magazine. Specifically he accused Blair of persuading his European allies, and countries further afield including in Asia, to join in seeking to isolate Zimbabwe. "They interfere with even our friends in the East and try to persuade them to reduce their relations with us," he said, lamenting that sanctions "have wreaked quite some havoc on our economy". |
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