Mugabe blasts U.S. for meddling in Zimbabwe elections

HARARE, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Thursday told the United States to back off from Zimbabwe and stop interfering in the electoral processes of the country.

Addressing a rally in the rural town of Chinhoyi, 115 kilometers northwest of Harare, Mugabe said the U.S. should not lecture Zimbabwe on how to conduct its polls.

The 89-year-old veteran leader, on U.S. sanction list since 2001, is seeking to extend his 33-year rule of the country since independence from Britain in 1980.

"America must be mad, absolutely insane for anyone like Ventrell to suggest that our elections must not be held even after the expiry of the term of parliament, because some political party is arguing that there are no reforms in the media and security sectors," Mugabe said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Tuesday this week that the United States was "deeply concerned" by lack of transparency in preparations for Zimbabwe's July 31 general election, and called on the government to ensure the vote was peaceful, fair and credible.

The urge seems to echo the repeated calls of Mugabe's long-time rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is contesting for the presidency for the third time since 2002.

Tsvangirai was forced into an uncomfortable inclusive government with Mugabe in the wake of disputed and violent polls in 2008.

The 61-year-old former trade union leader is labeled by Mugabe's party as a proxy for Western interests.

Mugabe took the swipe in his previous rally speeches at Britain and turned to the U.S. on Thursday.

He said the "still democratically filthy" U.S. had no moral obligation to tell Zimbabwe what do.

"Where do you get that audacity to open your mouth and try to sermonize us? What sermon can America teach us?" Mugabe said.

He reiterated that the U.S. and the European Union will not be invited to observe the elections because of the sanctions they imposed on the country.

The octogenarian leader blamed Western sanctions for the country's dire economic situations.

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