Mugabe takes to Swiss luxury

Mugabe's Swiss luxury revealed

MUGABE

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From David Sharrock in Geneva
11/12/03
IN an extraordinary display of indifference to what the world thinks of Zimbabwe’s woes, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe began a three-day visit to Switzerland for a United Nations conference by checking into one of the country’s most exclusive hotels.

Mr Mugabe selected La Réserve, a country club-style spa on the shores of Lake Geneva, for his 20-strong entourage. Rooms at the Réserve cost from £380, with the presidential suite available for £4,500. Jacuzzis and flatscreen televisions come as standard with the suites and at sunset every guest receives a handwritten weather report for the next day.

Whether or not Mr Mugabe feels he needs such pampering after the exertions of pulling Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth last weekend, he was certainly reluctant to come out of his suite yesterday. When he finally did, the Zen-like calm that the Réserve strives to create was shattered by a display of thuggish behaviour from his bodyguards, who manhandled several waiting photographers.

For his part, Mr Mugabe beamed genially from behind his corridor of minders, but ignored questions from reporters about his decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth after Zimbabwe’s suspension from the body was renewed in Nigeria. Earlier, Jonathan Moyo, the Zimbabwean Information Minister, when asked why the decision had been made, replied: "Ask Tony Blair."

Mr Mugabe was granted a visa to travel to Geneva even though Switzerland has followed the lead of the European Union and the United States by imposing sanctions on Zimbabwe, including a travel ban for the President, his wife and 77 close associates.

The UN conference - on the urgent need to bridge the technology gap that threatens to leave the Third World in the Dark Ages while industrial nations make swift progress in the digital age - has given him an opportunity to cock a snook at the EU’s sanctions and give a high-profile demonstration that he is far from friendless in the world.

Mr Mugabe used his speech to attack Britain and the United States. He told the summit: "These last two years have shown us how information and communications technologies (ICT) superiority are often deployed as a prelude and accompaniment to aggressing the sovereignties of poor and small nations. I say this because my country Zimbabwe continues to be a victim of such aggression with both the UK and the United States using ICT superiority to challenge our sovereignty through hostile and malicious broadcasts calculated to foment instability and destroy the state through divisions."

Mr Mugabe revelled in the role of international statesman when he addressed the leaders of more than 60 nations. They listened attentively and he received the applause of half of Africa, the presidents of the Baltic states, much of the Middle East and the French Prime Minister for his innocuous words on technology. Yet his enthusiasm for the internet may come as a surprise in Zimbabwe.

Last month 15 people were arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act for sending out e-mails from an internet café in Harare, which urged demonstrations in protest against the President’s rule. The alleged miscreants were released on bail and are awaiting trial in the first case of its kind in Zimbabwe - The Times (UK)
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