Zimbabwe’s state media accused Britain’s Prince Charles on Friday of lobbying the United Nations to take action against the government of President Robert Mugabe. The southern African state is struggling with a severe economic crisis that many critics blame on policies pursued by Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s ruler since independence from Britain in 1980. On Friday, the government-controlled Herald and Chronicle newspapers said Prince Charles had this week appealed to the United Nations for "action" against Mugabe during a visit to the United States. The papers normally reflect the views of Mugabe’s inner circle. In a lead story headlined "Row sucks in Prince Charles", the Herald daily charged that the prince was partly behind a statement issued by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressing concern over Zimbabwe. Prince Charles expressed strong views on Zimbabwe at a business conference attended by Annan in New York before the UN boss issued his statement, and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had "admitted" that he had pressured Annan to condemn Zimbabwe, the newspaper said.
"It has emerged that the heir to the British throne appealed to the United Nations to intervene in the diplomatic dispute between the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe by taking action against Zimbabwe under the guise of assisting the country," it said. Mugabe accuses Britain of leading a Western campaign against his government. His officials routinely denounce the opposition and other critics either as puppets or racists angry with him over his seizures of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to landless blacks. On Friday, the Herald published a cartoon lampooning Annan as a puppet being asked by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to repeat after him that: "We are deeply concerned with the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe."