Sharon Hudson, the spokesperson for the embassy of the United States in Harare today condemned the release of cables by former ambassador Christopher Dell who described President Robert Mugabe as more clever and more ruthless than any other politician in Zimbabwe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is brave, committed but is also flawed, indecisive, not readily open to advice saying “this sort of thing can put lives at risk and can also damage the engagement between nations.” But the condemnation of Tsvangirai has given ZANU-PF ammunition. Party spokesman Rugare Gumbo said: “We are dealing with people who are determined, in their agenda and their agenda is regime change in Zimbabwe. This is a puppet party; it is a quisling of the British and American forces.” Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said people should not read too much from Dell’s comments. “The opinions expressed by former ambassador Dell, were his own private opinions, and they were held in 2007. Twelve months later in 2008, the people of Zimbabwe, through the ballot box expressed a strong opinion in terms of expressing their faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.”

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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