Mugabe says colleagues plotting with the West

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accused some officials in his ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday of plotting against him with the help of Western countries he says are sabotaging the country's economy.

Critics charge that Mugabe, Zimbabwe's ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, has ruined the former breadbasket of the region through controversial policies such as the seizure of white-owned land to resettle blacks.

The veteran leader -- whose government this week caused international outrage after opposition leaders said they were tortured in police detention -- said imperialists were taking advantage of the ZANU-PF succession to re-assert themselves.

"There has been an insidious dimension where ambitious leaders have been cutting deals with the British and Americans," Mugabe told a meeting of ZANU-PF's youth league in Harare.

"The whole succession debate has given imperialism hope for re-entry. Since when have the British, the Americans been friends of ZANU-PF? Have we forgotten that imperialism can never mean well for our people?" said Mugabe.

Mugabe's current six-year term ends in 2008 but the ruling party last December circulated a motion to hold presidential elections in 2010 when the parliamentary vote is due.

This was viewed as a move to extend Mugabe's rule but has drawn resistance from some senior members of ZANU-PF, while the opposition has said it would launch peaceful mass protests to block the move.

Mugabe appears to have backed down from the plan but has stoked further tension by suggesting last week that he would run for President next year if his party picked him as candidate.

There are two competing factions bidding to succeed Mugabe, with one pushing for Vice President Joice Mujuru who local media say has the backing of husband Solomon Mujuru, a retired army general and a veteran of Zimbabwe's war of independence.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, a heavyweight minister in Mugabe's government is said to be another strong contender for the post.

Shunned by the West over his controversial politics, Mugabe has consistently refused to say when he will relinquish power and last month said he would not bow to pressure from senior officials seeking his early exit.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of a deep economic crisis, which critics say is a product of his controversial policies prompting the world's highest inflation rate of above 1,700 percent, rising jobless and shortages of foreign currency and food.

Mugabe on Friday told the youth league to defend the country's independence and said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was being funded by the West, which he blames for initiating a campaign to topple him from power.

"They think we are weak, think we have lost the resolve to defend our freedom," Mugabe charged. "They are wrong and stand for great shock if they continue to stretch our patience."