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Zimbabwe to the U.N.: "Okay, we will allow you to give us hundreds of millions of dollars if we reluctantly agree that there may a slight problem here."
1 posted on 12/07/2005 10:31:06 AM PST by Stoat
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To: Stoat
"Here I am on Election Day (yawn). I mean, what's the point? Just to keep up pretenses for the foreign observers?"


2 posted on 12/07/2005 10:36:35 AM PST by jdm
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To: Stoat
He said the United Nations has appealed for $276m in funding for Zimbabwe.

And remember who the biggest funder of the U.N. is. Grrrrr...

4 posted on 12/07/2005 10:57:46 AM PST by TexasRepublic (BALLISTIC CATHARSIS: perforating uncooperative objects with chunks of lead)
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To: Stoat

Things are pretty bad when even a disreputable collection of thugs such as the UN can talk trash about you!


5 posted on 12/07/2005 10:57:58 AM PST by headsonpikes (The Liberal Party of Canada are not b*stards - b*stards have mothers!)
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To: Stoat

Hard to believe the UN would even be critical of Zimbabwe.


7 posted on 12/07/2005 11:15:23 AM PST by Pessimist
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To: Stoat

Mugabe better watch out, or else he's going to get the dreaded UN "Letter of Concern."


10 posted on 12/07/2005 11:22:07 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: All
Key dates since 1980

Key dates since 1980


29/03/2005 13:27  - (SA)  

 
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is pictured in this file photo during the 4th National People's Congress in Harare, December 2 2004. (AFP)

 

 

Harare - Here are the key dates since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980:

 

  • April 18, 1980: Rhodesia gains independence after 90 years as a British colony, taking the new name Zimbabwe. The 1972-1979 war of independence between nationalist blacks and the minority white regime led by Ian Smith leaves 27 000 dead. Robert Mugabe, head of Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu), takes power as prime minister. Joshua Nkomo, head of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (Zapu), Mugabe's partner in the armed struggle, becomes minister of the interior.

     

  • Feb 17, 1982: Nkomo, accused of plotting a coup, is dismissed. Armed resistance in his stronghold of Matabeleland, in the west, is met with bloody government repression. At least 20 000 die in the ensuring massacres.

     

  • Dec 30, 1987: Mugabe becomes head of state after reforming the constitution to usher in a presidential regime.

     

  • Dec 19, 1989: The two rival movements merge under the name Zanu-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).

     

  • March 16-17, 1996: Mugabe is re-elected with 92.7% of the vote but the results are contested by the opposition.

     

  • Dec 9, 1997: A national strike paralyses the country. Bowing to growing demonstrations, the government gives up plans for new taxes to finance the pensions of former fighters.

     

  • Aug 20, 1998: The country intervenes in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the regime against a rebellion. The last Zimbabwean soldiers withdraw at the end of 2002.

     

  • Sept 11, 1999: The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is officially formed.

     

  • Feb 12-13, 2000: In a public repudiation of Mugabe's designs on expanding his presidential powers and expropriating white-owned farms, Zimbabweans defeat his proposed new constitution by 54.6% in a referendum.

     

  • Feb 28, 2000: Hundreds of white-owned farms are seized by squatters and pro-Mugabe war veterans in a violent campaign to reclaim what they said had been stolen from them by colonial settlers.

     

  • June 24-25, 2000: In parliamentary elections the Zanu-PF barely keeps its hold on power against the MDC after a campaign closely linked to land disputes left dead some 30 people, mainly members of the MDC. Due to the elections, the Zanu-PF loses its power to change the constitution.

     

  • Oct 16-19, 2000: Violent demonstrations break out in Harare suburbs after bread prices are raised by 30%.

     

  • March 9-11, 2002: Mugabe re-elected president in a poll marked by violence and denounced as rigged by most international observers. Sanctions are imposed on Mugabe and his entourage by western authorities.

     

  • Dec 7, 2003: The Commonwealth extends Zimbabwe's suspension, imposed in 2002. Mugabe announces the country's withdrawal from the organization.

     

  • March 7, 2004: 70 suspected mercenaries are arrested on charges of plotting a coup in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

     

  • Oct 15, 2004: MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is cleared by the High Court of charges of plotting to kill Mugabe.

     

  • Dec 11, 2004: the MDC issues a catalogue of alleged human rights abuses it said were perpetrated against its members in 2004 by ruling party supporters and state agents.

     

  • Feb 19, 2005: Zimbabwe's Information Minister Jonathan Moyo is sacked after registering as an independent candidate in parliamentary elections.

     

  • Feb 21 and March 2, 2005: The European Union and the United States extend sanctions.

13 posted on 12/07/2005 11:53:05 AM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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To: All
All about Zim

(note that this South African paper uses a CIA map in their article)

 

All about Zim


29/03/2005 13:36  - (SA)  

 
A map of Zimbabwe. (www.cia.gov)

 

 

Harare - Following are key facts about Zimbabwe, which holds general elections on Thursday.

Geography: The country, an enclave in Southeastern Africa, covers an area of 390 300 km. Borders Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Population: 13 million inhabitants in 2002 (World Bank).

Capital: Harare.

Climate: Tropical; Moderated by altitude; Rainy season (November to March)

Languages: English (official).

Ethnic Groups: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% .

Religions: Christianity (5O%, mostly Anglican), animism (40%).

History/Politics: British colonials from South Africa, led by Cecil Rhodes who gave the territory his name, arrived in 1890. In 1923, South Rhodesia became a British colony. In 1965, the minority white government's prime minister, Ian Smith, broke with Britain and unilaterally declared independence. From 1972-1979, an uprising against the regime by the majority blacks, led by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, left 27 000 dead.

In April 1980, under the Lancaster House Agreement, Rhodesia proclaimed independence under the name Zimbabwe. Canaan Banana took the ceremonial post of president and Robert Mugabe took the real power as prime minister. In 1987, he became the first prime minister to be given executive powers.

In February 2000, Zimbabweans rejected a proposed constitution expanding Mugabe's powers and expropriating white-owned farms. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of white-owned farms were seized by squatters and pro-Mugabe war veterans in a violent campaign to reclaim what they said had been stolen from them by colonial settlers.

In June 2000, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front barely kept its hold on power against the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which took nearly half of the seats in parliament.

In March 2002, Mugabe was re-elected with 56.2% of the vote, against 41.9% for the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The opposition rejected the result, citing widespread fraud. Sanctions were imposed on Mugabe and his entourage by western authorities.

Breakdown of Government:

According to the April 1980 constitution, amended in November 1987, Zimbabwe is a sovereign republic, and guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, regardless of race, tribe, or place of origin.

A) Executive and legislature

Under the 1987 amendment to the constitution, executive authority in Zimbabwe is vested in a president, who is nominated and elected to a six-year term by the members of parliament. The president appoints the vice-president and a Cabinet.

Legislative power in Zimbabwe is vested in the parliament. The Lancaster House pre-independence agreement on the constitution provided for a bicameral body consisting of a 120-seat House of Assembly and a 40-seat Senate; the 20 seats in the House of Assembly reserved for white members under the Lancaster House Agreement were abolished late in 1987.

When the agreement on the constitution expired in April 1990, the bicameral parliament was replaced by a new, single-chamber House of Assembly, with a maximum six-year term (previously five years).

It comprises 150 members, of which 120 are directly elected; 10 places are reserved for traditional chiefs, 8 are for the provincial governors appointed by the president, and the remainder are for other presidential appointees.

B) Political Parties

The two leading political parties were, until December 1987, the ruling Shona-based Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and the main, Ndebele-based opposition group, the Patriotic Front-Zimbabwe African People's Union (PF-ZAPU).

After long and, at times, violent, confrontation, they united as Zanu-PF in 1987 and 1988, turning Zimbabwe into a de facto one-party state. In 1996 the Zanu-PF formally abandoned its adherence to Marxism-Leninism.

A new opposition party, the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, was established in 1989 but faded into obscurity in the early 1990s. In October 1994 the United Party was formed by a merger of the United African National Council, the smallest of the pre-independence nationalist parties, and the Forum Party of Zimbabwe.

The other party was Zanu-Ndonga. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, was founded in September 1999 and is currently the second largest political party with 57 seats in the National Assembly.

Economy: Agriculture: tobacco (main source of foreign exchange). Mineral wealth (platinum, gold).

Zimbabwe, once considered the breadbasket of southern Africa and cited as an economic example to the continent, is undergoing an economic crisis, with rising unemployment, triple-digit inflation and plunging foreign exchange reserves.

Three quarters of the population lives below the poverty line. Malnutrition is becoming chronic and occasionally deteriorates into famine. In February, the International Monetary Fund gave Zimbabwe six months to make its payments due to the institution and reform its economy to avoid expulsion.

Foreign debt: $4.445bn in 2003 (World Bank).

Gross National Product: $480 per person in 2002 (BM).

Armed forces: Estimated at 29 000 men, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

In 1998, Zimbabwe intervened militarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the side of the Kinshasa regime, which was threatened with a rebellion. The last Zimbabwean troops left the country at the end of 2002.


14 posted on 12/07/2005 11:57:28 AM PST by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
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