Mugabe defends DRC intervention

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe this week strongly defended his country's military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During a question and answer session at a southern Africa trade and investment conference in the Mozambique capital, Maputo, on Tuesday, Mugabe said: "The Zimbabwean government responded to a call for assistance by the DRC government following the invasion by Uganda and Rwanda." He added: "I think our decision was a gallant one and our response so far has been just as gallant. We have prevented the aggressors from achieving their goal." When asked what kind of economic impact his country's intervention was having at home, Mugabe said: "Any country that is going through a period of transition is likely to experience some kind of economic woes. We are a newly independent country and have inherited economic imbalances." Mugabe added: "But I remind you that we are not in an agonising situation. In fact we are in recovery. Harare is booming. May I also remind you that we don't default on loans. We pay what we owe." In response to a recent United States (US), state department report on corruption in Zimbabwe, Mugabe said: "We handle corruption in our own way and probably more vigourously than the US does. There is corruption everywhere in the world."