Robert Mugabe gives David Cameron election backing

Robert Mugabe has backed David Cameron to win the election.

Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe Credit: Photo: AFP/GETTY

The Zimbabwe president said his country would have better relations with London if the Conservatives got in.

"We have always related better with the British through the Conservatives than Labour," he said. "We have a better chance with David Cameron than with Brown."

"Conservatives are bold, Blair and Brown run away when they see me, but not these fools, they know how to relate to others."

Mugabe's comments came after Gordon Brown told Jacob Zuma, the South African president, that Zimbabwe's sanctions would not be lifted until progress was seen in the power-sharing government.

Zuma, who is the mediator in Zimbabwe's fragile unity accord, wants the sanctions lifted.

Relations between Zimbabwe and London have been strained over the past ten years, after Mugabe's government started seizing white-owned farms, under his controversial land reform laws.

In 2002, the government imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle – including a travel ban and freezing of bank accounts – following allegations of a rigged election.

Mugabe, who is 86, has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. In recent years has been accused of holding onto power through violence and fraud.