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Zim 'racial slurs' irk US
30/06/2003 22:54 - (SA)
Harare - The US embassy in Zimbabwe Monday condemned "racial slurs" by two state-run newspapers in their criticism of US secretary of state Colin Powell.
In a statement the embassy registered its "profound disgust" with the Herald and Sunday Mail, which last week attacked Powell over his recent call for Zimbabweans to work towards constitutional change to pave the way towards a transitional government.
"The Embassy of the United States of America ... registers its profound disgust at the use of racial slurs with respect to Secretary of State Colin Powell," the statement said.
In an article published in the New York Times and widely quoted, Powell promised US aid to the country "with the president (Robert Mugabe) gone". State media here hit back with fierce criticism of the US official.
One editorial in The Herald accused Powell of being an "Uncle Tom" - a reference to the virtually servile black hero of the American novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin - who "dances to the tune of his masters".
Another claimed that the article had not been written by Powell, but by US assistant secretary of state for Africa, Walter Kansteiner, who is a staunch critic of the Zimbabwe government.
Harare accuses the US government, along with the EU and former colonial power Britain, of trying to undermine the country's sovereignty.
The US does not recognise Mugabe's election in presidential polls last year, which Western observer groups said were flawed.
- AFX
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