Robert Mugabe Hits Out at Uk and Us Over Sanctions

Robert Mugabe cast himself into the glare of media attention at the UN general assembly in New York yesterday, taking the opportunity to lash out at Britain and America, which he accused of inflicting untold suffering on the people of Zimbabwe.

The president of Zimbabwe was center stage at the UN building when his turn came round to deliberate before the assembly about the state of the world through his eyes. He did not refer to the elections and the violence his regime unleashed against the opposition led by Morgan Tsvangirai until their power-sharing deal, choosing instead to focus on the food crisis which he blamed on western sanctions.

"Those who falsely accuse us of these violations are themselves international perpetrators of genocide, acts of aggression and mass destruction," he said.

He appealed to the assembly floor, which was notable for the absence of any US delegation, to "apply pressure for the immediate removal of these sanctions by Britain, the United States and their allies, which have brought untold suffering to our people".

Mugabe also blamed global warming for the widespread scarcity of food in his country. Droughts and floods over the past seven years had disrupted the food supply, he said, implicitly rejecting the widespread view that it stems from the economic disruption that followed his state seizure of large farms owned by whites, and the crippling inflation rate of at least 11m% and rising.

In an interview with Associated Press in advance of his UN address, Mugabe further taunted the British and US governments. "They are waiting for a day when this man, this evil man, called Robert Mugabe is no longer in control. And I don't know when that day is coming."

He said he had no thoughts of resigning. Nor "any thought of dying".