Liberian president condemns Mugabe

All Africans must speak out about injustices in places like Zimbabwe, Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said.

Speaking during a speech honouring former South African president Nelson Mandela, Ms Sirleaf devoted her speech, a week before Mr Mandela’s 90th birthday, to painting an optimistic picture of Africa’s future.

But she said she could not ignore current troubles, and that it was her duty to “express my solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, as they search for solutions to the crisis in their country”.

The remark earned applause from Mandela and a crowd of several hundred gathered in a community hall in Soweto, the famed Johannesburg township.