ZIMBABWE: The Zimbabwean President, Mr Robert Mugabe, has said that opposition strikes designed to bring him down have failed and he defended his government's use of force to silence protesters.
Shops, banks and factories in the capital, Harare, shut for a third day yesterday, defying government threats to crack down on businesses involved in the largest protests yet to target the veteran leader.
"It is sad when we are forced as government to have to use tear gas against our own youth who are being misled, but we have to do it in the interest of peace. But we don't want to make our people suffer," Mr Mugabe told SABC television. "We suffered enough during colonial times and we want our people to be free, express their free views and feel that the country belongs to them, that they have a stake," he added.
Asked how the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had fared in trying to dislodge him through the protests, Mr Mugabe replied: "It has been a crushing reverse."
The MDC, which called the protests in a "final push" to topple the 79-year-old leader, said one man had died from injuries sustained on Monday when riot police and army units swooped in to crush marches.
MDC activist Mr Tichaona Kaguru died in a Harare hospital after he and a colleague were assaulted and tortured, one of several MDC supporters allegedly brutalised during Monday's crackdown, the party said in a statement.
"The MDC unreservedly condemns such acts of violence by the police and army, especially after the Minister of Home Affairs promised that the police would not interfere with peaceful marches," the party said.
Police, who have reported between 250 to 300 arrests this week, said they were not aware of Mr Kaguru's death, but said a man had been stoned to death by MDC supporters.
The MDC launched this week's protests saying Mr Mugabe - in power since independence from Britain in 1980 - had disastrously mismanaged Zimbabwe's economy while engaging in increased political repression.
Mr Mugabe said the MDC had ignored advice from the leaders of Nigeria and South Africa, who were trying to arrange talks between the MDC and Mr Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.
"Their appeal to the MDC not to resort to mass action, not to resort to violence has not yielded fruit.," Mr Mugabe said.
Separately, the Foreign Minister, Mr Stan Mudenge, attacked last weekend's G8 summit in Evian for its criticism of Mr Mugabe's handling of the protests.
"It is regrettable that the G8 summit has seen it fit to criticise the government's efforts to maintain law and order while deliberately ignoring the illegal act of the MDC. This exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of these external financiers and handlers of the MDC,"Mr Mudenge said.
Zimbabwe state radio yesterday reported that government agents were auditing which businesses were closed and would begin procedures to strip them of their licences.