Zimbabwe PM says 'persecution' of his party must end

Published on Sunday 13 September 2009 22:09

ZIMBABWE'S prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said yesterday he would no longer tolerate what he called the persecution of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, underscoring tensions in the government.

Speaking at a rally to mark the tenth anniversary of the formation of his party, Mr Tsvangirai said he would not stand by as President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party "continues to violate the law, persecute our members of parliament, spread the language of hate, invades our productive farms … ignores our international treaties".

His comments came after the European Union (EU) said yesterday it will not remove sanctions targeting Mr Mugabe and his loyalists, or resume development aid to Zimbabwe, until more is done to implement a year-old power-sharing agreement and restore human rights.

Winding up the first visit by a high-level EU delegation since 2002, Karel de Gucht, the European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, said differences remained between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai over their coalition deal.

"They do not have the same reading of the same document. They have a different reading on how this should be done and at what speed," he said.

International co-operation minister Gunilla Carlsson of Sweden, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said the delegation's talks with Mugabe were "open and frank".

But she added: "We still have a lot of reports of human rights violations that are unacceptable."

Hours before the EU team arrived on Friday, Mr Mugabe accused the West of wanting to re-colonise his country.

Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain nearly three decades ago, called western nations "neocolonialists" who can "never be our friends".

He told the youth wing of his Zanu-PF party: "They still want our land. Why are voices being sounded across the world for regime change to take place in Zimbabwe?"

However, he told the EU delegation at the weekend: "We welcome you with open arms."