Former South African president Thabo Mbeki claimed, on Al Jazeera television, that the British government under Tony Blair was determined to implement a “military plan” to depose Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Mbeki said there was a retired British army chief who had been pressured by “the then prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair … (to) work out a military plan so that we can physically remove Robert Mugabe” in the late 2000s.
Blair released a statement denying that he put pressure on South Africa while he was in office to help remove Mugabe in a military operation, AFP reports.
A spokesperson for Blair said he “long believed that Zimbabwe would be much better off without Robert Mugabe and always argued for a tougher stance against him, but he never asked anyone to plan or take part in any such military intervention.”
Mbeki’s spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga told AFP the former president stood by his words.
Source: AllAfrica.com
