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published: 31st Mar 2006 21:09 GMT |
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Mugabe..we will crush you |
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By a Correspondent
President Robert Mugabe on Friday issued a chilling warning to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over threats to organise street protests to overthrow him.
Mugabe said such a course of action would be fatal to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Early March, Tsvangirai, leader of the main faction of the opposition, threatened to lead a wave of "mass action" demonstrations against Mugabe.
Mugabe was addressing thousands of his supporters in Harare at the burial of a senior security aide, Winston Changara. He said he would crush any attempts by the MDC to force him out of office.
Speaking in the vernacular Shona language, Mugabe said Tsvangirai was a coward who deserted the country's independence war in the 1970s, but was now posing as a patriot in a country struggling with a severe economic crisis.
"Who do you think you are threatening? Who do you think will be moved by your threats?" Mugabe said, adding that ZANU-PF was a battled hardened liberation party.
"These threats, that if we won't leave office you are going to remove us through violence -- Aaah, this man! Does he know our history, does he know our record?"
"Don't dice with death in that manner," Mugabe warned. "It will never happen. We won't allow it," he added, saying Tsvangirai should concentrate on the ballot box.
At a recent congress of his main MDC faction, Tsvangirai said his group was still a resilient force capable of launching a strong political campaign.
He sustained protests were the only way to overcome government brutality, and that he was ready to lead peaceful demonstrations.
Tavangirai accuses Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party of having rigged three main elections since 2000 to remain in power.
Zimbabwe has descended into economic crisis, and critics blame Mugabe's policies for food, fuel and foreign currency shortages, spiralling inflation and unemployment. On the other hand, Mugabe claims his opponents have sabotaged the economy to undermine him.
The MDC was formed in 1999 and has for years been seen as the greatest threat to Mugabe's hold on power. But analysts say the recent split over the senatorial elections has weakened the party.
Mugabe, ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, has kept the opposition in check mainly through tough policing, including routine deployment of security forces to crush all street protests.
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Mugabe's chilling warning to Tsvangirai