Mugabe celebrates 80th birthday

Mugabe's party comes as Zimbabwe faces an economic crisis

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is celebrating his 80th birthday in his home village with thousands of guests.

The event in Kutama, 80km (50 miles) west of Harare, began with a Catholic mass and was followed by a lavish meal.

The celebrations come a day after Mr Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, said he planned to retire as president within the next five years.

The BBC's Barnaby Phillips says Mr Mugabe's country is in economic crisis and facing international sanctions.

Mr Mugabe won another six-year term as president in 2002 in elections which were disputed as fraudulent by the opposition.

The European Union, which also considered the result rigged, this week decided to renew sanctions against Zimbabwe for a third year.

Singing

At Mr Mugabe's party, which was held in a marquee, lilac and gold balloons grouped together to form the number 80, bobbed in the air.

Our leader quite honestly is the best in the world - he must have been sent by the Almighty to lead Zimbabwe Didymus Mutasa Anti-Corruption Minister Mugabe's life in pictures Descent into dictatorship

Mr Mugabe blew out candles on a cake, before shaking hands with guests who included political and business leaders.

Guests listened to songs by school choirs, martial music by a police band and a series of songs by Zimbabwean gospel singer Fungisai Zvakavapano.

In a speech, Mr Mugabe's second wife Grace said of her husband: "He was well brought up and that is why he has reached this age.

"Our children are still young... I pray that God grants him many more years so that he can instil discipline in our children."

Mr Mugabe's younger sister Sabina said he was studious even as a child.

"He had a high concentration, wanted to read very much. He was very hardworking, he would herd cattle and go to the fields but all the time he carried his books," she told guests.

Saturday's edition of the state-owned Herald newspaper carried a 16-page edition about Mr Mugabe and congratulatory messages.

'Still boxing'

In an interview with state television broadcast on Friday, Mr Mugabe said he would still be active in politics.

"In five years, [I will be] here still boxing, writing quite a lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics," he said. "I won't leave politics but I will have retired obviously."

In the interview to mark his birthday, the president did not say whether he would stand for re-election in the next presidential poll due in 2008.

But he has said in the past that he will only step down when his "revolution" is complete, a reference to the redistribution of white-owned land.