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By Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE'S economic crisis characterised by world-record inflation, should spell the downfall of President Robert Mugabe's government, the outgoing US ambassador to Harare said on Monday.

"We are closer to seeing change in Zimbabwe today from within than at any time since independence," Christopher Dell told journalists in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo.

"The first cycle of post-independent history is coming to an end... the phase defined by the liberation struggle, anti-colonialism and sadly by ethnic hatred and racism... as the economy collapses around us."

Dell, in the country's second city before his departure to Afghanistan, has been an outspoken critic of Mugabe who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980.

The ambassador said calculations by independent economists project that by the end of the year, Zimbabwe's inflation would hit 1.5m% if the central bank continued printing money.

He said it was impossible for Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party to remain in power under the current "economic madness".

Dell said the country would need external help to get back on track after the change attained saying the country does not have sufficient capacity to kick-start the moribund economy.

Dell deplored the prevailing repression, saying it deprived Zimbabweans of the right to express themselves.

"The real crisis in Zimbabwe today has been generated by the fact that a handful of people have arrogated unto themselves the right to speak on behalf of everybody and they have excluded anybody who doesn't think, talk or act like them from the discussion about their own future," he said.

"That, at the most profound level is the core of the crisis in Zimbabwe today. But, I think this period is coming to an end."

Despite the crisis gripping the country, Dell was cautiously optimistic that regional mediation efforts - led by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki - would help resolve the crisis.

He said he was hopeful about change because Zimbabweans have proved "remarkably resilient" and were likely to make a plan to survive the current dark days and continue to work towards a brighter future. - AFP
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