Mugabe says colleagues plotting with the West

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accused some officials in his ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday of plotting against him with the help of Western countries he says are sabotaging the country's economy.

Critics charge that Mugabe, Zimbabwe's ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, has ruined the former breadbasket of the region through controversial policies such as the seizure of white-owned land to resettle blacks.

The veteran leader -- whose government this week caused international outrage after opposition leaders said they were tortured in police detention -- said imperialists were taking advantage of the ZANU-PF succession to re-assert themselves.

"There has been an insidious dimension where ambitious leaders have been cutting deals with the British and Americans," Mugabe told a meeting of ZANU-PF's youth league in Harare.

"The whole succession debate has given imperialism hope for re-entry. Since when have the British, the Americans been friends of ZANU-PF? Have we forgotten that imperialism can never mean well for our people?" said Mugabe.

Mugabe's current six-year term ends in 2008 but the ruling party last December circulated a motion to hold presidential elections in 2010 when the parliamentary vote is due.

This was viewed as a move to extend Mugabe's rule but has drawn resistance from some senior members of ZANU-PF, while the opposition has said it would launch peaceful mass protests to block the move.

Mugabe appears to have backed down from the plan but has stoked further tension by suggesting last week that he would run for President next year if his party picked him as candidate.  Continued...