NAMIBIA: The deepening political crisis in Zimbabwe shot to the fore at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg yesterday when Namibia's president criticised western sanctions imposed on the troubled state.
Harking back to colonial exploitation of the African continent, President Sam Nujoma singled out British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair as being at the root of one of the region's biggest problems.
"We here in southern Africa have one big problem, created by the British. The honourable Tony Blair is here, and he created the situation in Zimbabwe," President Nujoma said in his address to the summit.
"The EU, who have imposed the sanctions against Zimbabwe, must raise them immediately, otherwise it is useless to come here," he told a crowded hall.
The EU imposed sanctions on President Robert Mugabe's government earlier this year to protest against a March presidential election, which the EU deemed illegitimate, and the seizure of white-owned farms.
Mr Blair, who took the floor about 10 minutes after President Nujoma's address, did not respond to the accusations. But President Mugabe later got in his own dig at the British prime minister, telling him to "let me keep my Zimbabwe". "We have fought for our land, we have fought for our sovereignty, small as we are we have won our independence and we are prepared to shed our blood" to protect the nation, Mr Mugabe said in a speech to the summit.
"So Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe," Mr Mugabe said, triggering applause around the hall. But Mr Blair had already left the hall.
President Nujoma said the mostly white-owned farms being seized by Mr Mugabe's supporters represented most of the land in Zimbabwe and millions of poor Zimbabweans had no land.
Zimbabwe customs officials have refused to allow 30 tonnes of emergency food into the country obtained by the main opposition party, citing import regulations. "They've detained the maize until we obtain an import permit," said Renson Gasela, shadow agriculture minister of the Movement for Democratic Change . - (Reuters)