Mugabe: It's up to God
2008-06-20 21:03
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Bulawayo - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said Friday "only God" can remove him from office, in comments ahead of next week's tense run-off election.
"The MDC will never be allowed to rule this country - never ever," Mugabe said in a meeting with local business people, referring to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"Only God who appointed me will remove me, not the MDC, not the British."
Mugabe has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980 and has frequently accused his presidential run-off opponent Morgan Tsvangirai of being a stooge of the former colonial power.
Later addressing a rally in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo, Mugabe said: "We will never allow an event like an election reverse our independence, our sovereignty, our sweat and all that we fought for ... all that our comrades died fighting for.
"The MDC should not tempt us to go back to war by promising to reverse our land reform programme."
He threatened to "deal with business people who are part of the regime-change agenda after the elections."
Mugabe embarked on a chaotic land reform programme at the turn of the decade which saw some 4 000 white-owned farms expropriated by the state.
He earlier warned in comments published in state media that he would not leave power until land was returned to the majority black population.
Critics put much of the blame for the country's economic crisis on Mugabe's land reform programme. They argue that it saw some of the country's most productive farms handed to people with no previous farming experience.
- SAPA