Mugabe slams UK's 'sinister campaign' Harare, Zimbabwe
04 December 2007 05:25
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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday expressed his gratitude to
European Union and fellow African leaders for enabling him to see off a bid to
have him excluded from an EU-Africa summit.
"The sinister campaign led by Britain to isolate us, including the recent
attempts to bar us from attending the EU-Africa summit, soon to be hosted by
Portugal, continues to disintegrate," Mugabe said in a State of the Nation
address in Parliament.
"I wish to thank the EU and African countries for their support, and the
Portuguese government for their correct reading of the situation.
"The principled rejection by the EU-Africa countries of attempts by Britain to
internationalise what clearly are bilateral differences between us vindicates
our position that problems between us and our former colonisers, being
bilateral, should therefore be addressed bilaterally."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will not attend the Lisbon
summit on December 8 and 9 after Mugabe indicated he would be present at the
meeting.
Relations between Zimbabwe and Britain were strained after Mugabe's government
launched controversial land reforms seizing farmland from white farmers, the
majority of them of British descent, for redistribution to landless black
Zimbabweans.
Mugabe commended the ongoing talks between his ruling Zanu-PF party and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), saying the dialogue had
"ushered in the dawn of a new era of constructive engagement across the
political divide".
He warned against violence in the run-up to joint polls early next year and
said he would not accept foreign interference.
"Those of our people who wish to go about campaigning should do so in an
atmosphere of peace and shun activities that may leave behind a bitter
aftertaste, he said.
"The government has at its disposal the means to deal firmly with anyone
seeking to engage in acts of violence.
"... Let the message ring clearly to our detractors that as a sovereign nation
we will not brook any interference in our domestic affairs." -- AFP
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