News / Africa
One Sadc country agreed to work with Tony Blair to oust Mugabe
04 Dec 2013 at 14:55hrs | Views
At least one SADC country had agreed to work with Britain to oust the government of President Mugabe.
Mugabe got wind of the plot and dispatched an envoy to that country telling the leadership there that invading a fellow Sadc member state was dangerous.
Sources also said that Britain approached at least two other southern African countries to provide land and airspace for a possible invasion of Zimbabwe at the turn of the millennium.
A source said, "At least three countries were approached. One of them rejected the idea flatly, one listened to the proposal and then rejected it, and another (named) went along and only stopped when Harare made it clear it was aware of the plot. That is where it crumbled, but this tells Zimbabwe to remain vigilant as such threats can never be consigned to history."
In an interview in his home village of Etunda in Northern Namibia earlier this week, former Namibian leader, Dr Sam Nujoma - who was president from Namibia's independence in 1990 until 2005 - said while he had not been approached to assist in an invasion of Zimbabwe, it should be made clear to the whole world that such an action would never be tolerated by the region.
A fortnight ago, Thabo Mbeki said Blair's regime put pressure on Tshwane to abet an invasion of Zimbabwe.
The British wanted to depose President Mugabe and impose MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in his stead.
Interestingly, around the time of these invasion plots, Tsvangirai told a rally in Harare that he was prepared to remove President Mugabe from office "violently".
Before Mbeki's revelation, a senior officer in Blair's uniformed service had also said the military option had been strongly considered.
Lord (General) Charles Guthrie, Chief of the General Staff of the British Army from 1997 to 2001, said Blair had asked him to look at an invasion of Zimbabwe.
Lord Guthrie said his response was, "Hold hard, you'll make it worse."
Labelled Blair's favourite general, Lord Guthrie is credited with conniving with the then Prime Minister to send troops to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mugabe got wind of the plot and dispatched an envoy to that country telling the leadership there that invading a fellow Sadc member state was dangerous.
Sources also said that Britain approached at least two other southern African countries to provide land and airspace for a possible invasion of Zimbabwe at the turn of the millennium.
A source said, "At least three countries were approached. One of them rejected the idea flatly, one listened to the proposal and then rejected it, and another (named) went along and only stopped when Harare made it clear it was aware of the plot. That is where it crumbled, but this tells Zimbabwe to remain vigilant as such threats can never be consigned to history."
In an interview in his home village of Etunda in Northern Namibia earlier this week, former Namibian leader, Dr Sam Nujoma - who was president from Namibia's independence in 1990 until 2005 - said while he had not been approached to assist in an invasion of Zimbabwe, it should be made clear to the whole world that such an action would never be tolerated by the region.
A fortnight ago, Thabo Mbeki said Blair's regime put pressure on Tshwane to abet an invasion of Zimbabwe.
The British wanted to depose President Mugabe and impose MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in his stead.
Interestingly, around the time of these invasion plots, Tsvangirai told a rally in Harare that he was prepared to remove President Mugabe from office "violently".
Before Mbeki's revelation, a senior officer in Blair's uniformed service had also said the military option had been strongly considered.
Lord (General) Charles Guthrie, Chief of the General Staff of the British Army from 1997 to 2001, said Blair had asked him to look at an invasion of Zimbabwe.
Lord Guthrie said his response was, "Hold hard, you'll make it worse."
Labelled Blair's favourite general, Lord Guthrie is credited with conniving with the then Prime Minister to send troops to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Source - herald
