LONDON (The Guardian) -- Robert Mugabe Friday denounced Britain as “thieving neo-colonialists” in a speech marking the 28th anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence.

In his first major appearance since disputed elections last month, Mugabe told 15,000 cheering Zanu-PF loyalists: “Today they are like thieves fronting their lackeys among us.”
Mugabe, who led the fight for independence against Ian Smith’s regime in the 1970s, said at a sports stadium in Highfield, an opposition stronghold: “Zimbabwe will never be a colony again. Never shall we retreat.”
Mugabe’s diatribe followed some tough words from Gordon Brown earlier in the week, when the British prime minister accused him of trying to steal Zimbabwe’s presidential vote.
Brown told a special meeting of the UN security council that no one believed Mugabe had won the presidential vote and that a “stolen election would not be an election at all”.
Mugabe Friday returned the favor, resorting to the tactic of attacking Britain and the west …. He accused Britain of being Zimbabwe’s real enemy and master puppeteer of the opposition.
“Today they have perfected their tactics to a more subtle form by using money literally to buy some people to turn against their government. We are being bought like livestock,” Mugabe said.