Britain and Zimbabwe crossed swords at a regional economic summit in South Africa yesterday, with Zimbabwe telling its former colonial master to pay for land reform but shut up about how it is done. The British Junior Foreign Minister for Africa, Mr Peter Hain, however, was adamant London would not write President Robert Mugabe a "blank cheque".
Zimbabwe's Local Government and National Housing Minister, Mr John Nkomo, said Britain had insulted Mr Mugabe by setting transparent governance and fair elections as conditions for releasing £36 million for land reform. Mr Hain had told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Durban that Britain wanted guarantees from Mr Mugabe, including that redistributed land would go to landless rural blacks. "This is where we part ways with Britain, they cannot lecture us on human rights, on anything," Mr Nkomo said.