Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has warned that British ministers have risked making a martyr out of President Robert Mugabe by being too harsh in their criticism of him.
Mr Tsvangirai, who was today addressing a rally of supporters in London, said Mr Mugabe was using land seizures to boost his own political popularity before elections by creating a row with the old colonial ruler.Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, said British ministers had now agreed to tone down their language after weeks of angry attacks on Mr Mugabe over his support for black squatters taking over white farms.”We must be very careful that we don’t push Mr Mugabe to the extent of being a martyr at this stage, because that’s exactly what he is looking for,” he told the BBC.”He is history anyway, so why push him to the extent where you are likely to resuscitate his image?”Foreign office minister Peter Hain said: “We agree with him. The British Government has sought throughout a constructive dialogue with Zimbabwe over land reform.”There are some positive signs and I hope that dialogue can move forward. It is important for Zimbabwe that the forthcoming elections are free and fair.”After meeting Mr Tsvangirai yesterday, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Britain wanted “dialogue and co-operation” with whoever won the forthcoming elections.He said: “I set out our position that Britain would support a genuine land reform programme which would benefit the rural poor and provide fair compensation to those farmers willing to sell land.”Whichever party wins the forthcoming elections, we will seek to take forward dialogue and co-operation on land. Meanwhile our priority is to ensure the rule of law is upheld and the rights of all people of Zimbabwe is respected.”A spokesman for Mr Tsvangirai described the meeting as “very constructive” and said both sides had seen “eye to eye on the appropriate way forward”.But, speaking earlier, the opposition leader said in a meeting with junior Foreign Office minister Peter Hain there had been an admission from British ministers that they had been “a little bit harsh” in their previous criticism.Mr Tsvangirai said he and Mr Hain had agreed “to tone down condemnations and engage Robert Mugabe”.. Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader told Britain yesterday to tone down its criticism of President Robert Mugabe or risk playing into his hands by turning him into a martyr. Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader told Britain yesterday to tone down its criticism of President Robert Mugabe or risk playing into his hands by turning him into a martyr.
Speaking before a meeting with Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, Morgan Tsvangirai urged Britain to promote dialogue and give Mr Mugabe an “honourable way” out of the crisis triggered by the occupation by squatters of hundreds of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe.

The alternative, he warned, was to give him the excuse of “being made a martyr in the eyes of Zimbabwe”.The 76-year-old president was “going for broke”, Mr Tsvangirai said. “Mugabe doesn’t care if he brings down the country with him.”Mr Tsvangirai’s remarks, coupled with a claim by Mr Cook to have detected a possible softening of Mr Mugabe’s position, seemed to indicate a cooling of the confrontation which has brought Zimbabwe to the brink of anarchy – at least as seen from London.Before their meeting at the Foreign Office yesterday, both Mr Cook and Mr Tsvangirai endorsed the need for open and equitable land reform, which should be linked to an end to the occupation of the farms, restoration of the rule of law, and free and fair elections. Both also oppose the use of sanctions against Zimbabwe, at least at the present stage.. Zimbabwean opposition politicians, who have been accused by the ruling party of training guerrilla fighters in Britain and South Africa, yesterday denounced what they saw as a pre-election smear campaign. They also expressed fears that the smears could escalate into the sort of repression the country saw in the 1980s. Zimbabwean opposition politicians, who have been accused by the ruling party of training guerrilla fighters in Britain and South Africa, yesterday denounced what they saw as a pre-election smear campaign.

They also expressed fears that the smears could escalate into the sort of repression the country saw in the 1980s.
At the same time, veterans leading farm occupations across the country appeared to harden their stance, proclaiming “now we are at war” and rubbishing a new court ruling on Thursday that their actions were unlawful. Chengirai “Hitler” Hundzvi, their leader, said: “The judges are part of the old white system Fighters like us were hanged by their system. They can go to hell.”At Atlanta maize farm in Arcturus, near Harare, a group of occupiers – seen for the first time wearing T-shirts sporting the ruling party logo – said they would not budge, despite a statement on Thursday from the acting president, Joseph Msika, that the sit-ins were no longer necessary. “We will take orders from no one except President Robert Mugabe,” the group of about 20 invaders said.With President Mugabe abroad until tomorrow, farms across Zimbabwe continued to report incidents and none saw signs of the invaders retreating. The Commercial Farmers’ Union estimates that 500 farms are facing ongoing occupations and more than 1,000 have been hit since February.In Harare, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) – whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai was in London yesterday – held a sombre press conference at which it condemned the government for “peddling a preposterous concoction of lies” through state papers and television.Among the allegations in the state media was one claim that an MDC arms cache had been found on a white-owned farm in Mazowe, near Harare, and that the party was training guerrillas in South Africa and Britain. The daily Herald newspaper also claimed that the MDC, in cohoots with “white forces” at home, in Britain, South Africa and the United States, aimed to sabotage the country’s economy.On three-quarters of a page, the newspaper published what it claimed was a leaked document from the MDC which it said was a “treasonable” plan to destabilise the government. In reference to guerrilla groups in Angola and Mozambique – which during the Cold War were backed by the West and apartheid South Africa – the party was likened to “the Unita or Renamo of Zimbabwe”.

The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) has a Marxist tradition.The MDC’s secretary general, Welshman Ncube, compared Zanu-PF’s tactic to the prelude to the Matabeleland massacres in the early 1980s in which the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade killed thousands of members of the Ndebele tribe in the southwest of the country. The terror campaign, which began as an attempt to intimidate Zanu-PF’s main war ally, Zapu, after it became a post-liberation rival, claimed mainly civilian lives. Mr Ncube said: “Zanu-PF is using similar tactics because it is staring defeat in the face. This could be a prelude to arresting the leadership of the MDC or to declaring a state of emergency.”In the last month, Zanu-PF has attacked MDC members and taken hundreds of our T-shirts. It would not surprise us if a battle was staged and it was claimed that the violent mob was an MDC guerrilla.”Mr Ncube added: “Zanu-PF is a terrorist party It is the government which has sabotaged the economy. What we are seeing, in repeated attacks on our supporters, are the usual Zanu-PF tactics wherever they have sought to take action against opponents.”His claims and Mr Tsvangirai’s visit to London came just days before the 20th anniversary of the end of white rule in Zimbabwe, which falls on Tuesday.