Zimbabwean President Slams UK Over Land Issue

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, January 13, 2002

Zimbabwean President Slams UK Over Land Issue

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of reneging on pledges to support land reforms, official Zimbabwe News Agency reported on Saturday.

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Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of reneging on pledges to support land reforms, official Zimbabwe News Agency reported on Saturday.

President Mugabe told a meeting in the capital Harare on Saturday that it was puzzling that Britain was keen to discuss Zimbabwe's forthcoming presidential elections but had not fulfilled its promise of financial support for land reforms, the report said.

"You can't deny responsibility in one area and accept it in another," Mugabe was quoted as saying.

The president also accused Blair of lying about the situation in Zimbabwe, where opposition leaders are complaining of violence at the hands of state forces.

"My government has been clear in its condemnation of violence," Mugabe said.

"People should live in peace. We should not fight each other but contest in the ballot," he said.

Relations between Zimbabwe and Britain, the former colonial power, have soured since a government-backed land redistribution among landless blacks began in February 2000.

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