Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe fought back against his European critics Sunday after being savaged over his rights record, refusing to be lectured by leaders whom he accused of being lackeys of Britain.
The day after Angela Merkel said Mugabe was undermining the image of Africa, Zimbabwe's ruler since independence said the German chancellor and three other leaders who berated him at an EU-Africa summit were "arrogant" for assuming they understood the situation in the former British colony.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown boycotted the summit over Mugabe's presence but the Zimbabwean leader said what he called a "gang of four" from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden had acted on his behalf.
"So does the German chancellor and the pro-Gordon gang of four of yesterday really believe that they have a better knowledge of Zimbabwe than SADC (than Southern African Development Community), ... than the African Union," he said.
"And it is this arrogance that we are fighting against ... It is that kind of arrogance, that kind of superiority complex that we fight here."
Inflation in Zimbabwe is now the highest in the world at nearly 8,000 percent and Mugabe was also heavily criticised by the West earlier this year when his security forces assaulted opposition leaders.
However Mugabe said Africa did not need lectures from Europeans given that democracy only came to his continent once the era of colonialism was ended.
"Why is the prime minister of Britain not here? Because he has his spokespeople in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. These are his megaphones," he said.
"They spoke yesterday, not from their own hearts, but what their own friend, master and ally in Number 10 Downing Street (the British premier's office) would be pleased to hear."
Mugabe, in power in the former British colony since independence 27 years ago, was attending the summit despite an EU travel ban imposed after he allegedly rigged his 2002 re-election.