Mugabe: 'I will stay on for five more years'

President Robert Mugabe hinted for the first time yesterday that he is willing to speak to the opposition to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, but then outraged opponents by announcing in an 80th birthday interview that he will cling to power for five more years.

Speaking to the state broadcaster, Mr Mugabe said he would retire in five years' time, without giving a specific date. But his critics maintain that five more years under him will put Zimbabwe beyond redemption. Mr Mugabe's current term ends in 2008, but before the interview there had been speculation that he would use his 80th birthday to announce his retirement, and bring the next presidential election forward to coincide with parliamentary elections in March next year.

The President said talks with the opposition had been hampered by some Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials, whom he described as "shallow". The MDC, he added, "should wean itself off its Western backers and become a home-grown party" before he would engage in talks.

Mr Mugabe's critics insist a real solution to Zimbabwe's political and economic problems requires his departure from power, and then free and fair elections. "We are outraged by his plans, but not surprised," said Professor Lovemore Madhuku, who heads Zimbabwe's largest civic group, the National Constitutional Assembly. "We have always known he will want to stick it out for as long as he can."

Amid economic collapse and widespread hunger, Mr Mugabe held a lavish celebration for about 15,000 supporters at his rural home in Zvimba in western Zimbabwe yesterday, beginning with a service at the local Catholic church. Many were from the ruling Zanu-PF's youth league, named the "21st February Movement" in honour of the day.

Bankrupt state companies sponsored advertisements in a 16-page supplement carried by the state-owned Herald newspaper to mark the President's birthday.

In Pretoria, meanwhile, the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, said his request to investigate rights violations in Zimbabwe, submitted a year ago, had been ignored by the Mugabe regime, which has closed the country's sole independent daily newspaper.

Last week the government introduced laws allowing the detention of Mugabe opponents for up to a month without trial.