Free Republic

President Robert Mugabe in a published interview rejected demands that he should dismiss two discredited officials, while the Zimbabwean government on Thursday asked its neighbors for a $2 billion loan package to aid its collapsed economy. In the interview with the state Herald newspaper to mark his 85th birthday, Mugabe ... "It is important not to jump off the bridge before there is enough water under it,"

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe told reporters Thursday he doesn't see why the arrest of a longtime rival has made news around the world and strained relations with his new governing partners. "The issue of Roy Bennett is making headlines worldwide. I wonder why?" Mugabe said Thursday.

Zimbabwe's government has accused former colonial ruler Britain of using a cholera epidemic to rally Western support for an invasion of the collapsing southern African nation, a state-run newspaper said on Sunday. President Robert Mugabe is under mounting pressure from the international community, especially Western nations which accuse him of ruining the once prosperous country and exposing its people to famine and disease. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has branded Mugabe's government a "blood-stained regime" and said it was responsible for the cholera epidemic that has killed at least 575 people. The world must tell Mugabe "enough is enough," he...

With the beleaguered African state now in the grip of a cholera epidemic, the Prime Minister said the situation remands an international response. "This is now an international rather than a national emergency. International because disease crosses borders. International because the systems of government in Zimbabwe are now broken. There is no state capable or willing of protecting its people. He called for the establishment of a "command and control structure" in the capital, Harare, to co-ordinate the work of donors and NGOs to ensure that international aid reached the people who needed it most. ..."to give the Zimbabwean people...

ZIMBABWE has cut water supplies to the nation's capital Harare, state media reported today, leaving most of the city dry as authorities struggle to contain a cholera epidemic. "Most parts of Harare - including the city centre - did not get water yesterday amid claims by Zinwa staff that the authority had stopped pumping after it ran out of one of the essential chemicals,"

Gunfire has broken out in downtown Harare when rampaging, unpaid soldiers attacked money changers and clashed with police. Monday's violence is the second time in a week that soldiers have attacked money changers and stolen their cash in frustration after they have been unable to get their wages at banks.

Zimbabwe has refused to let Kofi Annan and two eminent colleagues visit the impoverished African country for a humanitarian mission, the three said Saturday. The former U.N. secretary-general, ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and rights advocate Graca Machel had planned to assess the country's needs. They are members of The Elders group, formed by former South African President Nelson Mandela to foster peace and tackle world conflicts.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today said Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis was far worse than he could have imagined and expressed dismay that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government refused to acknowledge the problem even existed. "The entire basic structure in education, healthcare, feeding people, social services and sanitation has broken down," Carter told a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. "These are all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much greater, much worse than we had ever imagined." Carter was part of a delegation that was denied entry into Zimbabwe last week to assess the crisis. The delegation...

A leading Zimbabwean farmer working some of the country's last productive land has had his property invaded by allies of Robert Mugabe. Doug Taylor-Freeme is one of Africa's most respected farmers, a white Zimbabwean chosen by his mostly black peers to be their champion. Romsey has the only productive fields for miles around in the once-fertile Makonde South district, 90 miles north of Harare. Now it is under threat from a local strongman, Chief Nemakonde, a strong supporter of Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party, whose land grab is being supported by local government officials. He has already taken over...

Tens of thousands of Zimbabweans lined up at banks Monday, desperate to take out their money after the government raised the limit on daily withdrawals. New rules went into affect Monday allowing withdrawals of up to 20,000 Zimbabwe dollars (US$35; euro25). The old 1,000 Zimbabwean-dollar limit was barely enough to buy a newspaper.

Robert Mugabe's government has bowed to financial reality and legalised the use of foreign currency in Zimbabwe's shattered economy. It is the final humiliation for Zimbabwe's battered currency, which was worth more than the US greenback at independence in 1980. Even after two revaluations that have knocked a total of 13 zeros off it, it was trading on the black market on Wednesday at around 6,000 to the USD – or 60,000,000,000,000,000 to one in terms of the original Zimbabwe dollar. "These reforms are essentially a pragmatic response to the realities in the economy," he said. "We have watched and...

International pressure seems to have finally had an effect on South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki. The man who almost singlehandedly shielded Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe from regional and global efforts to oust him has finally told his crony that he has two choices — resign or face prosecution for a myriad of crimes. Mugabe must hand real power to his political enemy, Morgan Tsvangirai, or else face complete isolation:The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has been warned by Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, that he faces prosecution for the crimes he has committed during his 28 years in office unless he...

Britain and the US have condemned Russia and China for vetoing a draft UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe's leaders. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the veto was incomprehensible. The US said it brought into question Russia's reliability as a G8 partner. Zimbabwe and its main ally South Africa welcomed the result. Zimbabwe's Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the resolution as a Western plot and welcomed its rejecton.... There has been growing international criticism of Zibabwe since the re-election of Mr. Mugabe in a run-off boycotted by the opposition. The opposition's Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement...

The crisis in Zimbabwe is "infecting the whole of southern Africa, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said after visiting refugees. On a visit to Johannesburg, S Africa, he said victims of political repression were fleeing there in their thousands. He said it was now "imperative" that there was a new government in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe was declared the winner of a one-candidate run-off election, amid reports of the violent intimidation of his opponents. After meeting some of the 2,000 refugees who have taken refuge in the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg, Mr. Miliband said: "This is now...

Former President Bill Clinton called for Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe to step down immediately or form a power-sharing arrangement with his chief opponent. The former presidentcalled Mugabe "a puppet of the military establishment" and singled out a Washington Post story that exposed coercion, intimidation, beatings and profession killings by the ruling-party s militias. The crisis in Zimbabwe was the main focus of a public one-on-one interview tonight with Jane Wales, a former Clinton advisor and current Aspen Institute vice president of philanthropy and society, at the annual Aspen Ideas Festival.

A defiant President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on Tuesday fended off an effort by African leaders to sanction him for his country's recent election violence, telling them that their claims to power were no more legitimate than his. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said Mugabe chastised another head of state during a closed-door session Tuesday night for having "worse elections than I did." A two-day summit of the 53-nation African Union that was dominated by talk of Zimbabwe's political crisis ended with leaders issuing no public rebuke. Instead, African leaders encouraged Mugabe to enter into dialogue and form a power-sharing...

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected forming a unity government if he is not recognised as the winner of presidential elections. African leaders called for a unity government days after Robert Mugabe won a run-off boycotted by the opposition. Mr. Tsvangirai, who won the first-round vote, said the African Union should appoint another mediator to join South Africa's leader Thabo Mbeki. Earlier, a spokesman for Mr. Mugabe welcomed the AU call for dialogue....... Mr. Tsvangirai said the resolution did not acknowledge the illegitimacy of the 27 June run-off vote. "The resolution endorses the concept of a government of national...

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe has been stripped of his honorary British knighthood as a "mark of revulsion" following recent pre-election violence, the Foreign Office in London said today. Queen Elizabeth II has approved the annulment of the honour - bestowed on Mugabe by the former colonial power 14 years ago - on the recommendation of Foreign Secretary David Miliband. "This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided," "We can no longer justify an individual who is responsible...

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he is pulling out of Friday's presidential run-off, handing victory to President Robert Mugabe. Mr. Tsvangrai said there was no point running when elections would not be free and fair and and "the outcome is determined by... Mugabe himself." He called on the global community to step in to protect Zimbabweans. The decision came after opposition supporters heading to a rally in the capital Harare came under attack. The MDC says at least 70 supporters have been killed in recent months. At a press conference Sunday, mr Tsvangirai said: "It is for the world...

The men who pulled up in three white pickup trucks were looking for Patson Chipiro, head of the Zimbabwean opposition party in Mhondoro district. His wife, Dadirai, told them he was in Harare but would be back later in the day, and the men departed. An hour later they were back. They grabbed Mrs Chipiro and chopped off one of her hands and both her feet. Then they threw her into her hut, locked the door and threw a petrol bomb through the window. The killing last Friday – one of the most grotesque atrocities committed by Robert Mugabe’s regime...