Mugabe retorts after Rice attack

President Robert Mugabe launched a stinging attack on US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today after she described Zimbabwe as one of the world’s last “outposts of tyranny”.

By listing Zimbabwe alongside the likes of Cuba, North Korea and Iran, Rice was “echoing her master’s voice”, Mugabe said as he started his party’s campaign for next month’s general election.

“That girl born out of slave ancestry should know from the history of slavery and the present situation of blacks in America that the white man is not a friend,” he said.

It was the first time Mugabe responded to Rice’s comments during her confirmation hearing last month. He said he had to stop himself pronouncing Rice as “lice”.

Mugabe, who has lead the troubled southern African country since independence from Britain in 1980, has repeatedly accused its former colonial ruler and the United States of spreading lies about his country’s record on human rights and democracy.