Robert Mugabe’s spokesman told the West on Tuesday it can “go hang a thousand times” over its criticism of the Zimbabwean president’s widely discredited reelection which has seen Washington push for UN sanctions.
“They can go and hang a thousand times, they have no basis, they have no claim on Zimbabwe politics at all,” spokesman George Charamba said in answer to a question about Western criticism of Mugabe’s violence-marred election.
The 53-member African Union was holding closed door talks on the final day of a summit in Egypt amid intensifying pressure for the continent’s leaders to act to resolve the crisis which some fear could destabilise southern Africa.
Charamba also appeared to reject a Kenyan-style power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who won the first round of the presidential election, where the UN brokered a deal that ended weeks of bloodshed after a disputed election in December.
“I don’t know what power-sharing is,” Charamba said. “Kenya is Kenya, Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe.”