Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe defied calls by world leaders for his resignation Friday, vowing to "never surrender to anybody", according to dpa. Addressing thousands of delegates at the annual conference of his Zanu-PF party in Bindura, around 80 kilometres north of Harare, Mugabe thundered: "At conscience, at heart, I will never, never sell my country. I will never, never surrender. "Zimbabwe is mine," he declared. "I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British." Mugabe's remarks came as a group of Nordic countries joined a long list of countries, from Britain and the United States to Botswana and Kenya, that have called for an end to Mugabe's rule. The foreign ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden meeting in Denmark demanded an end to Mugabe's "misrule" and called for "human rights be reinstated." The ministers were "appalled" by Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis and said they held the authorities fully responsible. Over 1,100 Zimbabweans have died of cholera since August as an economic crisis blamed on the government's populist policies topples basic infrastructure, such as water and sewerage. The Nordic ministers also said there was an urgent need to form a coalition government between Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) under the terms of an agreement inked in September. But MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai continued to resist pressure to join such a government on Mugabe's terms, telling a press conference in Botswana that he would break off talks with Mugabe if the state didn't release a group of missing MDC members and activists by January 1. Tsvangirai put at 42 the number of people that have been detained without charge by police or abducted by suspected intelligence agents in recent weeks and whose whereabouts is unknown. They include Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project. "There can be no meaningful talks while a campaign of terror is being waged against our people," Tsvangirai said. Tsvangirai also repeated that the MDC would not be a junior partner in a Mugabe-led government. Zanu-PF is insisting on keeping the lion's share of power in negotiations, including control of the army and shared control of the police that have been used to terrorize MDC members for years. If the two parties could not agree, Tsvangirai said, "an internationally supervised presidential election must be conducted in an environment that is conducive to a free and fair poll." Mugabe has also floated the prospect of fresh elections because of the impasse, but analysts say elections called by Zanu-PF on its terms would probably be violent, like the June presidential election run-off that Tsvangirai boycotted.
