Zimbabwe seeks friendly Western ties – Mugabe

President Robert Mugabe yest-erday said Zimbabwe wanted friendly relations with Western countries who have been critical of it in the past.

Mr Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, also reiterated a call for sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted.

“Our country remains in a positive stance to enter into fresh, friendly and cooperative relations with all those countries that have been hostile to us in the past,” he said at the opening of Parliament.

Mr Mugabe has long been a pariah in the West, blamed by critics for plunging his country, once the bread basket of southern Africa, into poverty through mismanagement and corruption.

He has accused his Western foes of ruining the economy through sanctions in retaliation for a policy of seizing white-owned farms for landless blacks. Those countries say the sanctions only target him and close associates.

His government has also been criticised for human rights abuses, including repression of opponents and the media.

“Our re-engagement with the EU bloc is gathering momentum. However, as our inclusive government re-engages the Western countries, we expect those countries that have imposed illegal sanctions, which have hurt our people and continue to hurt our economy... to remove them,” Mr Mugabe said.

The fragile coalition between Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is threatened by policy differences, the slow pace of reforms and feuding over state jobs.

Yesterday opposition MDC ­parliamentarians applauded Mr Mugabe when he called for unity among Zimbabweans in a conciliatory speech.

“Together let us build the bridges of amity, forgiveness, trust and togetherness,” Mr Mugabe said.

Analysts said Mr Mugabe’s comments were mild compared to his previous fiery, anti-West speeches at previous Parliament openings.

“It was a departure from his conventional style and the speech appeared to be balanced and level-headed. The tone was quite impressive and is in synch with that of national reconciliation. Maybe he wants to reconcile polarised relations,” said Eldred Masunungure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.