Mugabe branded ‘shameless’ over attempt to gatecrash Pope’s funeral
-07/04/05
President Robert Mugabe has been branded ‘shameless’ after he flew from Zimbabwe unannounced to join world leaders attending Pope John Paul IIís funeral in Rome.
The trip which defied a European Union travel ban was denounced by one of Mugabeís fiercest human rights critics, Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo.
ìThat man will use any opportunity to fly to Europe to promote himself. The man is shameless,î said the archbishop.
He also said Mugabe was exploiting the Vaticanís current preoccupation with funeral arrangements.
The Archbishop recently called for a non-violent uprising against Mugabe.
In response Mugabe accused the prelate of being ìa half witî and said he was praying for God to kill him.
By going to Rome Mugabe, 81, who has been in power since 1980 independence, defied European Union travel sanctions imposed in 2002 after its observers were barred from disputed presidential elections, at which Mugabe claimed a further six-year term.
His ruling Zanu-PF party last week announced it had gained a two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections similarly marred by allegations of intimidation and massive rigging.
On Monday, Mugabe took the floor uninvited at a requiem mass for the Pope in Harareís Catholic cathedral, attacking western powers for meddling in Zimbabweís internal affairs.
ìIt is sad to note in todayís world there are people who want to dominate other people contrary to the late Popeís teaching,î he said.
Mugabe who is Jesuit-educated, calls himself a Catholic, and described John Paul II as “a very virtuous man, a virtuous leader of the Catholic Church”.
During an apparently shameless interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to mark his Zanu-PF party’s recent victory, Mugabe said small nations such as Zimbabwe feared “the bullies of this world”, and hoped that big nations would pay heed to the Pope’s message of peace.
The US embassy in Harare on Wednesday joined critics of last weekís elections, expressing concern at the role of police and ruling-party officials in polling and counting, the association of polling stations with food distribution and the ìdrastic discrepanciesî between initial announcements of votes cast and the eventual combined votes announced for the rival candidates.
In 2002 Mugabe and approximately 100 of his closest political associates were also barred by the US and many Commonwealth nations from operating bank accounts on their soil or travelling there for private purposes.
However, Archbishop Ncube noted that the Italian Government was obliged by its treaties with the Vatican to admit Mugabe for the Popeís funeral.
Senior church figures would be unable to communicate to him their concern at the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, the archbishop predicted.
ìThe Secretary of State might be rather too busy right now to talk to him but when someone in the family has died you appreciate all the sympathy you can get from all people, even murders, crooks and thieves like Mugabe,î he said.
ìIn any case what will he (the Secretary of State) achieve? Mugabe is so stubborn and so conceited.î
His comments, defying draconian new laws that impose a five-year jail sentence for undermining the dignity or authority of the head of state, mark a new intensity in the war of words between the two men.