Zimbabwes informasjonsminister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu opplyser at den pågående kolera-epidemien i landet skyldes et rasistisk, biologisk angrep fra Storbritannias side.

– Kolera-epidemien i Zimbabwe er et seriøst biologisk, kjemisk krigsvåpen, et folkemord på menneskene i Zimbabwe begått av britene, forklarer Ndlovu. Informasjonsministeren fra Mugabes parti Zanu-PF tok også til orde for å få brakt statsminister Gordon Brown inn for sikkerhetsrådet i FN som en «trussel mot verdensfreden».

Dikatoren Robert Mugabe har lenge søkt å legge skylden for befolkningen i Zimbabwes lidelser på Storbritannia, og klandrer den tidligere koloniherren for en rekke problemer:

«This was a calculated warfare. There are forces who are continuing to plant anthrax and cholera disease.

«Cholera is a calculated, racist attack on Zimbabwe by the unrepentant former colonial power, which has enlisted support from its American and Western allies so that they can invade the country.»

With demands rising for Mr Mugabe to face prosecution in The Hague for human rights abuses, Mr Ndlovu instead called for the British prime minister to be brought to justice.

«Gordon Brown must be taken to the United Nations Security Council for being a threat to world peace and planting cholera and anthrax to invade Zimbabwe – our peaceful Zimbabwe,» he said.

De noe spesielle påstandene kommer kort etter at regjeringen i Harare forsøkte å fremstille Mugabes uttalelser som at det ikke er noen kolera-epidemi i Zimbabwe som en spøk:

The 84-year-old leader had told mourners at the funeral of his close ally Elliot Manyika that the disease had been «arrested». Amid growing calls for his departure, some saying the use of force would be legitimate, he said: «Now that there is no cholera, there is no need for war.» The comments triggered widespread condemnation, with the US ambassador in Harare saying they showed «how out of touch he is with the reality» in Zimbabwe.

But soon after, Mr Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba tried to backtrack, saying that he had been making «his argument through sarcasm, noting that now that efforts deployed so far towards containing the outbreak were beginning to yield positive results».

He denounced the Western media, saying they «have chosen a path of wilful distortion of a clear statement and argument by the Zimbabwean president, in order to advance the war and regime change agenda of their expansionist governments».

I følge Verdens Helseorganisasjon er så langt 792 mennesker døde i den pågående kolera-epidemien i Zimbabwe.

But Mr Mugabe’s propagandists are adept at their work, and to those in Africa who want to believe them their pronouncements, however lurid, will seem plausible.

Despite the calls for action, there is little in practice that neighbouring countries can do about his misrule, even though the disease is beginning to affect them too.

Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, gave warning that Britain it could also have implications for Britain, with an influx of Zimbabwean immigrants could trying flee the epidemic, although Foreign Office sources played down the idea.

South Africa is still pressing the importance of a unity government being formed with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, even though critics say that it is a route for Zanu-PF to retain power.

Robert Mugabe har forøvrig i støtte i Norge. I september hyllet daglig leder i African Youth in Norway, Sam Chimaobi Ahamba, den aldrende diktatoren som en afrikansk helt i en lengre artikkel i Bistandsaktuelt:

Zimbabwe-saken er viktig for oss fordi det angår våre familier, vårt kontinent og våre skjebner som et samlet folk. At folk med europeisk bakgrunn skal nekte oss afrikanere en kulturell nasjonalisme, en stolthet og kampånd er ikke holdbart, rettferdig eller demokratisk. Det er klassisk eurosentrisme og på grensen til rasistisk å kalle oss for rasister og tilhengere av folkemord fordi vi støtter våre egne ledere. Afrikanere, enten de er hjemme på kontinentet eller i diasporaen har et naturlig engasjement og tilknytning til Zimbabwe fordi det er vårt hjem og vår kamp mot undertrykkelsen. Derfor er Zimbabwe-saken så viktig for oss.

The Telegraph: Mugabe claims cholera was released by the British