Mugabe takes on Bush
2005-11-26 16:51
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has slammed the US government for extending travel bans targeted at him and his closest aides, state-controlled daily The Herald said on Saturday.
"Comrade Mugabe said it was surprising that the US was imposing sanctions against people who were working for democracy and letting those stifling democracy off he hook," the paper said.
The paper quoted Mugabe speaking at a campaign rally in Sanyati, about 250 kilometres west of the capital, for elections seen to buttress his grip on power.
The leading opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has been divided over the polls with the party leader Morgan Tsvangirai advocating a boycott, arguing the polls were a farce.
However a faction of the MDC has defied Tsvangirai and signed up 26 candidates.
The Herald said Mugabe's government had called for Saturday's senate elections "in furtherance of democracy while MDC leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai was agitating for a boycott of the polls, thwarting democracy in the process".
'Sanctions not aimed at ordinary Zimbabweans'
"We clearly proved how democratic we are by asking for everyone to participate in these elections and we are on a democratic path to build our parliament, but Morgan (Tsvangirai) has decided to boycott these elections and yet he claims to be democratic," said Mugabe.
Mugabe spoke a day after Washington widened the list of people, including himself, whose assets were frozen in March 2003, from 77 to 128 for "hindering democratic reform in Zimbabwe".
Bush warned that "conditions in Zimbabwe have continued to deteriorate".
"The government continues to suppress opposition groups and civil society, undermine the independent media, ignore decisions by its courts, and refuse to enter into meaningful negotiations with other political actors," he said.
"Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections in March 2005 were not free or fair. Recent demolitions of low income housing and informal markets have caused 700 000 people to lose their homes, jobs, or both. Additional measures are required to promote democratic change," he said.
Mugabe has refused to talk with the MDC to resolve the country's political and economic crisis, arguing the party is a puppet of former colonial ruler Britain.
Bush spokesperson Dana Perino said the sanctions were not aimed at ordinary Zimbabweans "but rather at those most responsible for their plight".
- AFP