Mugabe attacks 'vicious machinations' of Britain

4/18/2008 - 3:45:41 PM

Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe today used his first public speech since the country's controversial elections to attack Britain.

Addressing a crowd of supporters on Zimbabwe's independence day, the president dismissed his political opponents as colonial puppets.

Mugabe claimed the opposition Movement for Democratic Change wanted "this country to go back to white people, to the British, the country we died for. It will never happen".

Zimbabwe is still awaiting results of the presidential election nearly three weeks after the voting and Mugabe's critics say he plans to hold on to power simply by refusing to release them.

"You saw what happened when you heard the MDC was winning: Those who ran away started coming back," Mugabe said in an apparent reference to Britons.

His speech was the main event of an independence day programme that looked more like a rally for his party than a national celebration.

Many in the crowd of 30,000 listening to him at a Harare sports stadium waved the party's flag and wore T-shirts with its campaign slogan from the March 29 election: "Vote for the fist."

He spoke calmly for more than hour, with no visible signs of tiring. He spoke mostly in the Shona language, instead of English - unusual for an event attended by diplomats and other foreign dignitaries.

"Beware. Be vigilant in the face of the vicious machinations of Britain and its other allies," Mugabe said.

"Yesterday they ruled by brute force. Today they have perfected their tactics to be more subtle. They are literally buying people to turn against the government. We are being bought like sheep because they have money and because we are suffering."

The few passages in English included thanks to southern African leaders "for clearly articulating our case over the ... elections."

The leaders held an emergency summit on Zimbabwe last weekend and issued a weak declaration that failed to criticise Mugabe.

"I want to thank South Africa in a special way for the role it has played in brokering our dialogue," Mugabe added.

A day earlier, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai called for South African President Thabo Mbeki to step aside as mediator.

Mr Mbeki, appointed last year by southern African leaders to mediate between Mr Tsvangirai and Mugabe, has insisted on quiet diplomacy, maintaining that Mugabe will not respond to a confrontational approach.

Mr Mbeki has been widely criticised for saying last weekend that Zimbabwe was not in crisis.