Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe accused the main opposition today of forging a "treasonous" alliance with Britain to oust him.
The 84-year-old leader is seeking re-election for another five-year term in a presidential race in which he faces former finance minister Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the main faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Mugabe, a former liberation hero in power since independence in 1980, took his election campaign to the capital Harare in the final stretch to the March 29th general election, the biggest challenge to his rule since he took office.
He told thousands of supporters in an open sports ground in the poor township of Mbare that Britain was sponsoring the MDC in a bid to reverse the seizure of white-owned land for black people.
"It is treasonous for the MDC to continue to help the British so that they have any influence here," Mugabe told supporters in a speech delivered mainly in local Shona.
"They [MDC] still look up to the British in this day and age. They want to rule this country, that will not happen as long as we are still alive, those of us who fought the liberation struggle," Mugabe said, predicting the opposition would break apart after the March 29th poll.
Mugabe has often resorted to a strategy of attacking his Western foes, mainly Britain, in a bid to deflect attention away from an economy critics say he has left in tatters, analysts say.
The combative leader repeated threats to punish British companies that still operate in Zimbabwe for what he said was London's continued meddling in the country's internal affairs.