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Zimbabwe's Leader Not to Step Down
Admitting his two-decade hold on power is under threat, Zimbabwe's aged and dictatorial President Robert Mugabe is vowing not to step down until the future of his ruling party is secure.
``The old man must see his party win,'' said Mugabe, 77. ``I can't go to rest and have peace of mind if my party is going to lose elections.''
In an often cantankerous interview aired by the state Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. on the eve of the nation's 21st anniversary of independence from British colonial rule, Mugabe on Tuesday accused Britain ¡ª the country's former colonial power ¡ª and Zimbabean whites of campaigning for his downfall by backing his political opponents. He is Zimbabwe's only black ruler.
Mugabe is scheduled to run in presidential elections that must be held by early next year.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change is fielding its black leader in that poll. In parliamentary elections last June, Mugabe's ruling party won a slim majority after controlling all but three seats in the previous Parliament.
Mugabe said the nation's 60,000 whites aligned themselves with the opposition in order to reverse the gains of emancipation won by the country's 12 million blacks. Zimbabwe secured its independence from colonial rule in April 1980.
Britain persuaded the United States, its other Western allies and the International Monetary Fund to withhold aid and loans, imposing effective sanctions against Zimbabwe, he said.
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