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(TALKZIMBABWE) Amnesty Intl chief acted bewitched: President Mugabe

Amnesty Intl chief acted bewitched: President Mugabe
Floyd Nkomo
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:00:00 +0000

PRESIDENT Mugabe on Thursday took at swipe at Amnesty International chief Irene Khan saying that she acted like she was bewitched when she recently visited Zimbabwe.

Irene Khan, the first secretary general of the London-based human rights watchdog to visit Zimbabwe, complained that Zimbabwe's 4-month-old inclusive Government was not pursuing human rights abusers.

Khan had been promised a meeting with President Mugabe during her visit but did not get one. She, however, met with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai back in London on Friday last week.

Addressing the Zanu-PF National Consultative Assembly at the party’s headquarters in Harare yesterday, President Mugabe said the Amnesty chief looked as if she had been "bewitched" and was "too quarrelsome".

Using a mixture of the local vernacular Shona and English languages, the president said he did not know where "little fellows like Irene Khan" come from. "I do not know where that woman came from. I was shocked at how quarrelsome she was, she acted like she was bewitched. Should we let these people speak ill like this about our country?"

"Let the people talk about the unjust measures imposed on us" added the President referring to the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain, the US and their allies.

President Mugabe said Western countries visited by PM Tsvangirai vowed not to remove the illegal sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe because they wanted nothing short of regime change.

"They wanted Zanu PF and Mugabe to be defeated. We will not lift sanctions, they say. We will not give you money except little pieces of silver."

He added that he will have discussions with PM Tsvangirai on Monday regarding his state visit to the EU and US where the issue of sanctions will be addressed.

He said "imperialists can never be friends" in reference to PM Tsvangirai's failure to convince the West to lift the sanctions imposed on the country.

"Imperialists can never be friends of those countries and people that desire freedom. I fought for freedom. Only a dead imperialist is a good one," said the president. "Colonisers can never be friends, so we turn our back on them and face the East."

He castigated the West for intent on lecturing to Zimbabwe on what to do and urged Zimbabweans not to associate themselves with "imperialists and racists" and urged members of his Zanu PF party to "never give in to imperialists whom their had defeated in a War of Liberation".

Labels: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, IRENE KHAN, MUGABE, NEOCOLONIALISM

posted by MrK @ 7:10 AM