Mugabe, 81, renews attack on Tony Blair
February 21, 2005 Edition 1
President Robert Mugabe prepared to celebrate his 81st birthday today by launching a fresh attack on British Prime Minister Tony Blair and hitting out at his sacked information minister, Jonathan Moyo.
Mugabe described the relationship between the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and former colonial ruler Britain as "treasonous", in a 90-minute interview on state television.
"That's the worst betrayal there can ever be, it's treasonous, condemnable. You can't eat with the enemy," he said.
"You can never ever convince an Englishman that you are equal to him ... He is always superior, it doesn't matter what circumstances, it doesn't matter what education, it doesn't matter what power, you are always inferior."
Without mentioning him by name, Mugabe inferred that Moyo, whom he fired from the Information Ministry at the weekend, was overly ambitious for trying to "arbitrarily" uproot the old guard in the ruling Zanu-PF.
Moyo, Mugabe's chief propagandist over the past five years, got the sack after he decided to run in parliamentary elections next month as an independent.
"Democracy is rules, you cannot operate without rules, you must recognise how people together can share power," Mugabe said in an interview recorded before he sacked Moyo.
Asked what he would do if he was to meet Blair, Mugabe said he would accuse him of being a liar.
"I would tell him that he, Tony Blair, is a liar, straightforwardly, that on Zimbabwe he has lied, on Iraq he has lied."
Mugabe accused Blair of falsely claiming that Zimbabwe is undemocratic, lacks transparency and the rule of law.
Asked if he was not running away from issues at home by adopting an "anti-Blair" theme for his party's electoral campaign, Mugabe said Blair had interfered with Zimbabwe's domestic affairs through his "agent" the MDC. - Sapa-AFP
