ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe accuses Western powers of trying to unseat him but vows his government won't collapse under pressure

More than 3,000 ZANU-PF delegates on Friday (December 15) turned up in colourful dress with portraits of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, singing revolutionary songs and carrying banners declaring support for his leadership, his controversial seizures of white-owned farms for blacks and denouncing ZANU-PF critics. The party congress -- held in a sprawling white tent set in a football field at a boarding school in a rural district an hour's drive from Harare -- has attracted delegates from across the southern African country. ZANU-PF is expected to endorse a proposal to change the constitution to allow the two-year extension to Mugabe's term to 2010. The proposal has already been adopted by eight of the ruling party's 10 provincial executives, and is almost certain to be passed this weekend barring an unlikely challenge. The main opposition says this is the work of a dictatorship. 82-year-old Mugabe made no mention of moves by his ZANU-PF party to extend his term in office, a step critics say will drive the country deeper into crisis. Instead, he took a jab at his favourite Western foes including the United States and Britain , accusing them of seeking "regime change" in Zimbabwe and contributing to the hardships of a people now in their sixth year of recession. "I know we are in difficult times, it's hard times that we are going through. You are bearing a fair share of the burden, we know that (but) Zimbabwe will never collapse," Mugabe told party supporters. Critics say prolonging Mugabe's rule will only compound the problems facing Zimbabwe , with his government isolated by key Western countries and the economy on the brink of collapse. But on Friday Mugabe said none of this would have any effect on Zimbabwe. "We are not in search of masters, we are our own masters," he said. Looking relaxed and wearing a floral shirt imprinted with his image, occasionally raising fist in a 90 minute speech, Mugabe did not touch on the idea of extending his term, although he has in the past said he suggested it. Some ZANU-PF officials are believed to be unhappy with the move to give Mugabe an extra two years in office when his six-year term ends in 2008. But political analysts say they are afraid to confront the veteran Zimbabwean leader under whose patronage they have prospered. The ruling party has been hit with divisions since Mugabe's decision in 2004 to appoint Joyce Mujuru as one of his two deputies -- a move many saw as a stepping stone for the top job. Mugabe assumed power at independence from Britain in 1980, and critics accuse him of plunging one of Africa 's most promising nations into a severe economic crisis through a series of controversial policies.

ITN Source | December 16, 2006

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