Cris Chinaka
Cris Chinaka
HARARE -- The Zimbabwean government yesterday accused Britain of plotting to invade the country and to kill President Robert Mugabe and some of his associates.
Mugabe's spokesman, George Charamba, told the official Sunday Mail newspaper that Harare was "well aware" that former British prime minister Tony Blair had considered plans for a military invasion of Zimbabwe.
Reacting to a report in Britain's Independent newspaper last week that Blair had discussed the plan with former British armed forces chief General Lord Charles Guthrie, Charamba said "the idea had not been abandoned".
"The government was aware of the plans and the president made reference to the British's sinister motives on several occasions.
"A defence plan had been operationalised and, in fact, it is still in operation. We were also aware that short of a fully-fledged invasion, the British were and are still contemplating the elimination of our political leadership through a number of assassinations," Charamba added.
In the article, headlined "Zim prepared for British invasion", the Sunday Mail quoted Charamba as saying that Blair was forced to shelve the invasion plan on the advice of former members of the British military advisory training team who worked in Zimbabwe in the 1980s and 1990s and said Mugabe had "a very capable army". - Reuters