Johannesburg — The Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, launched a blistering and bitter tirade against British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking on Monday to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
Mugabe used his address before dozens of world leaders to reiterate his criticism of the British leadership, which has been consistently critical of Mugabe and his land reform programme and seizures of white-owned farms. "Keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe", Mugabe declared, addressing the British leader directly.
Blair was not in hall to hear the Zimbabwean leader's speech that was peppered with defiance. Mugabe had previously left the hall when Blair took the floor to give his speech, in which the British prime minister made no direct reference to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
"We say this as Zimbabweans", Mugabe said. "We have fought for our land, we have fought for our sovereignty, small as we are, we have won our independence and we are prepared to shed our blood, in sustenance and maintenance and protection of that independence". His remarks were met by loud applause from sections of the audience in the summit hall, which was echoed by a patchy cheer in the media centre, where journalists monitored Mugabe's speech.
After the loud clapping Mugabe added: "We wish no harm to anyone. We are Zimbabweans. We are Africans. We are not English. We are not Europeans". Defending his controversial policies, Mugabe said "no farmer is being left without land, we are threatening no one". He said everyone in Zimbabwe was entitled to one farm, but that some people owned up to 15 or more farms, which he said was not fair and would not be tolerated.
Addressing the conference theme, Mugabe said Africans are "doing our best to sustain our environment in every way possible." He said: "We keep our forests, we keep our animals, we keep even our reptiles, plus insects. We look after our elephants and ivory. We look after our lions as they roar everywhere."
Just before Mugabe spoke, Namibian President Sam Nujoma issued a similar, though briefer attack on Blair and Britain's colonial past in the region, saying: "We here in southern Africa have one big problem, created by the British. The Honourable Tony Blair is here and he created the situation in Zimbabwe".
Blair later said Nujoma was "defending the utterly indefensible" and that he represented a minority view.
With areas of Zimbabwe in the grip of drought and famine, Mugabe's critics have accused him of using food as a political weapon. He has also been denounced for ruining the economy with his contested agricultural and other policies.
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President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the summit host, has also come under fire for not being tough enough on his neighbour in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, in his summit address, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to leaders to focus on the goals of the meeting and on the immediate calamity affecting southern Africa.
"Not far from this conference room," Annan said, "13 million people are threatened with famine". He called for global cooperation to curb the increasing hunger in the region, saying the world could not afford the price of failure.
"If any reminder were needed of what happens when we fail to plan for and protect the long-term future of our planet, it can be heard in the cries for help from those 13 million souls", he said.
He also asked leaders to take concrete action in five crucial areas that are the major themes of the summit -- water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.
"The world today needs to usher in a season of transformation, a season of stewardship," he said. "Let it be a season in which we make a long overdue investment in the survival and security of future generations."[WSSD]
