The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has responded to the pastoral letter issued by the nation's Catholic bishops. The letter called on Mugabe to end oppression in the country and allow for democratic reform. It also warned that violent confrontation and deepening economic crisis were pushing the nation close to the breaking point.

Mugabe had initially remained silent about the letter, but responded this week in an interview published in the state-controlled media:

"The bishops have decided to turn political. And once they turn political, we regard them as no longer being spiritual," Mugabe said of the letter in extracts of an interview published in the state Herald newspaper on Friday.

"Our relations with them would be conducted as political entities, and this is quite a dangerous path they have chosen for themselves," Mugabe was quoted as saying.