A defiant President Mugabe scorned the growing international clamour for him to step down, insisting yesterday that “Zimbabwe is mine” even as his regime struggled to contain a devastating cholera epidemic that has brought his already ravaged nation to the brink.

Mr Mugabe delivered the broadside, which included renewed attacks on Britain, before the party faithful at the annual conference of Zanu (PF).

“I will never, never sell my country. I will never, never, never, never surrender,” he said, referring to calls from the West and other African nations for him to resign. “I won't be intimidated. Even if I am threatened with beheading, I believe this and nothing will ever move me from it: Zimbabwe belongs to us, not to the British.”

The brazen comments came as Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, threatened to quit power-sharing negotiations unless there was a halt to the wave of abductions that have led to the disappearance of more than 40 MDC activists, civic leaders and a journalist in two months.

Times Archive, 1983: And now the real Mugabe stands up

His elegance of speech, and gentleness of manner, have deceived many in the West

• Leading article: Zimbabwe's vote, 1985

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“If these abductions do not cease immediately and if all abductees are not released or charged in a court of law by January 1, I will be asking the MDC's national council to pass a resolution to suspend all negotiations and contact with Zanu (PF),” Mr Tsvangirai said from neighbouring Botswana. “The MDC can no longer sit at the same negotiating table with a party that is abducting our members and other innocent civilians and refusing to produce any of them before a court of law.”

The talks have stalled mostly over Mr Mugabe's refusal to yield significant power to the MDC despite signing an agreement in September in which he pledged to work with Mr Tsvangirai. Mr Mugabe claimed yesterday that he had sent letters to his rival to be sworn in as prime minister but was uncertain whether his invitation would be accepted. The MDC denied having received any such correspondence.

Earlier this year Mr Mugabe declared that “only God” could make him step down. Yesterday's tirade came after an international furore over a cholera epidemic that has left at least 1,123 dead and close to 21,000 infected amid economic collapse and food and fuel shortages and demands from all over the world that he resign.

Gordon Brown urged southern African leaders yesterday to distance themselves from Mr Mugabe, describing the country's plight as “a tragedy”.

The Prime Minister said: “My call over the next few days is to the southern African governments to work with us to make sure first of all that we get humanitarian aid in to Zimbabwe to help people, and secondly to make sure that it is absolutely clear to the people of Zimbabwe that we support those who are the democratic and elected politicians - and not those who remain in power simply because they have held on to power when the election has not supported them.”

His comments echoed calls by Jendayi Frazer, the top US envoy for Africa, who gave warning of “complete collapse” in Zimbabwe. “We're watching Zimbabwe become a failed state. We need to act now, proactively,” she said.

The Government of Botswana, Mr Mugabe's western neighbour, has suggested a fuel blockade of the country's borders, while the Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, and South Africa's Archbishop emeritus, Desmond Tutu, have called for UN peacekeeping troops to be sent to Zimbabwe.

Yesterday Mr Mugabe flaunted his country's military reputation before his African critics. “How could African leaders ever topple Robert Mugabe? Organise an army to come?” he said. “I don't know of an African country that is brave enough to do that.”

He said that Western governments believed that his regime was collapsing, and were telling the MDC to “let it collapse and the leadership will vanish and you can take over”.

“If they want to wait they can wait,” he said. “That day will never come.”

Accusations that his regime's failure was responsible for the cholera epidemic were dismissed by the octogenarian leader as “a pack of lies”.

Observers said that the bravado indicated that Mr Mugabe was unaware of the severity of the crises surrounding him, marked yesterday by the issuing of a Z$10,000,000,000 note, the largest of a string of bills introduced since August, when the central bank slashed ten zeros off the currency.

In the past two weeks there has been a dramatic stepping-up of disturbing incidents, including soldiers looting in the capital and factions within Zanu (PF) openly battling each other at the party's headquarters.

“He really is getting like the emperor with no clothes,” a Western diplomat said. “Zimbabwe is at the point of failure where so many authoritarian governments in the Soviet bloc were just before they collapsed without warning in 1989.”

Pouring bile on Britain

1994 “We cannot discuss with allies of the West. We have no idea of supping with the Devil”

1999 “This government of little men, Mr Blair and others . . . are opposed to our plans to grab white-owned land. They are even using gangster gays on us. Each time I pass through London you get people milling about trailing me. You see, that is the gangster regime of Blair”

2000 “Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white man, our real enemy”

June 2008 “We continue to respect the Queen . . . It’s the demons at Downing Street that need to be exorcised”

Source: Times archive

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