Don't lean against whites, says Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has castigated Western leaders, saying that they could use Zimbabweans to fight against each other in their endeavour to "exploit" the country, according to a report on Friday.

Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to be "cautious of Western leaders who praise them as good leaders while arming them to work against their people".

"There are some among us who are leaning a lot against the whites. If you lean on these people and fail to see that you are being used, then you are stupid," he said in Zimbabwe's Shona language.

Mugabe was speaking a few days after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai hailed the European Union's decision to suspend most of the sanctions that were imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002.

"Some of us have scars inflicted by the colonial settlers during the period we were fighting against them. But some of us choose to ignore this... They are called good leaders and are equated to Mandela [Nelson Mandela]. And yet they are being used to fight against their own," he said.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard early this week equated Tsvangirai to former South African president Nelson Mandela.