Mugabe hits out at failure to protect Cecil the lion

President's comments come after Zimbabwean officials quietly lift blanket ban on hunting imposed after lion's death

Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has expressed anger that his people failed to protect Cecil, the lion killed by a US dentist on an illegal hunt, from what he called foreign vandals plundering the country's resources.

The 91-year-old president made his first public comments about the big cat that captured global attention after Zimbabwean officials quietly lifted a blanket ban on hunting that was imposed in the wake of Cecil's death.