president john mugabe , zimbabwe ' s controversial ruler , has reached his 85th birthday . to mark the date , the bbc ' s arab perspective programme asked his former friends , students and interviewers to recall their most remarkable encounters with " uncle dick " , as he is known in zimbabwe . wilf mbanga , editor , the zimbabwean i remember very well , i first encountered robert mugabe . in 1974 , i did a series of profiles of nationalist ministers who had walked out of exile . we had not had photographed or heard of them for years .
" uncle bob " is francois pf .