Mugabe thrilled with France

2003-02-21 22:50

Paris - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, whose presence at a Franco-African summit here sparked a global outcry, on Friday told French radio he "felt at home" in Paris and praised French President Jacques Chirac for inviting him.

"We've had tremendous hospitality, we felt at home," Mugabe told Radio France Internationale (RFI). "We leave with a very good impression of France."

"Chirac insisted that we attend because some members of the EU didn't want Mugabe to attend," the Zimbabwean leader told RFI, speaking of himself in the third person.

"He put his foot down on principles," he added, noting that the world needed leaders of great stature such as Chirac.

Mugabe was only able to attend the summit after Chirac obtained a waiver to a EU travel ban on the Zimbabwean leader, defending the invitation as a way to confront him face-to-face over human rights abuses and lawlessness in his famine-ridden southern African country.

"It has been an excellent summit indeed," Mugabe told RFI. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA