HARARE — Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe turned 88 on Tuesday, joking about
reports circulating for years of his imminent
demise and vowing to stay in power despite
international condemnation of his economic
and human rights record.
Mugabe said he was in tip-top shape in an
interview with state radio, and made no
reference to media reports that he is
receiving treatment for prostate cancer in
Singapore.
"I have died many times. That's where I have
beaten Christ. Christ died once and
resurrected once," the devout Catholic
Mugabe told the radio broadcaster. "I am as
fit as a fiddle."
Mugabe charmed world leaders with his wit
and intellect in the early years of his rule,
when a relatively rich Zimbabwe was
praised for its education and social systems.
But he has since become a pariah in the
West, blamed for running the economy into
the ground and for massive human rights
abuses to keep his grip on power.
Mugabe, one of Africa's longest-serving
leaders, said his party ZANU-PF would
choose his successor at the right time, but
he had no intention of stepping down for
now.
'Sit-tight' rulers risk African Spring, Nobel
laureate says
"Our members of the party will certainly
select someone once I say I am now retiring,
but not yet," he said in a separate interview
with state TV.
"At this age I can still go some distance,
can't I," Mugabe said, laughing, clapping his
hands and rocking in his chair.
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