Mugabe: We'll show whites mercy

2009-07-11 22:08

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Saturday made a new appeal for unity in the country's power-sharing government.

"Are we truly united in the inclusive government? Are we truly one? Show it and let us speak with one voice, the voice of Zimbabweans," Mugabe said in an address to mourners at the Harare funeral of nationalist Ackim Ndlovu.

"Let's not humiliate ourselves any further, let us go to friends who are prepared to work with us and work with us on the basis of partnership and not on the basis of master and servant."

Mugabe and his long time rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a national government on February 11 in a deal brokered by former South African president Thabo Mbeki after months of tensions.

Mugabe has lashed out at Western nations for refusing to lift sanctions against him and his associates until the government introduces reforms.

Land for white farmers

Tsvangirai has just ended a three-week tour to Europe and the United States where leaders pledged support but again urged greater reform.

Mugabe said some former white farmers will be allocated land in the country. "We will allocate to you (white farmers) some land but out of our mercy."

"So we say to you, those who are still claiming land, they should remember the history of our country and what [they] themselves did to us."

The new government is seeking $8.3bn to revive the economy, battered by years of political turmoil.

Since February, international organisations have promised more than $1bn in help for the new government. China's recent aid effectively means Zimbabwe has now raised more than $2bn since February.

The government launched an economic recovery scheme in March to revitalise an economy devastated by a decade of hyperinflation that has left half the population dependent on food aid.
 

- SAPA