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"Don't be afraid" - Facing bullets, teargas and dogs - Friday is protest D-Day in Zimbabwe
yahoo.com news ^ | June 6, 2003 | uncredited

Posted on 06/06/2003 1:28:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

"This is the moment you have been waiting for. Tomorrow, Friday 6th June, 2003 is D-Day," the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on the penultimate day of a five-day strike and protest movement it has called to try to unseat long-time President Robert Mugabe.

The MDC called for five days of anti-government protests aimed at ousting Mugabe from power or at least force him to return to the negotiating table to address the country's deep political, economic and social crises.

But the planned street protests failed to take off as government security forces descended heavily on the would-be protesters, opposition supporters and, in some cases, bystanders, using teargas, dogs, batons and even live ammunition to put down the demonstrations.

At least two people have died this week as a result of the crackdown against the mass action while scores were wounded in beatings said to have been perpetrated by state agents.

"Rise up in your millions to demonstrate publicly your utmost disapproval of this violent dictatorship," the MDC urged in a full-page advertisement in the private Daily News on Thursday.

The fresh call to action came as most businesses remained closed, with less than half the shops open in central Harare.

But police and the army maintained a heavy presence. Military helicopters hovered over the capital for most of Thursday morning.

In the second city of Bulawayo, a correspondent estimated that about 25 percent of shops and almost all banks were open Thursday.

Many banks were reportedly forced to open by the police although some of them did not have any cash to give to clients.

The MDC urged Zimbabweans not to be afraid despite hundreds of them having been beaten up, allegedly by security forces and pro-government supporters.

The opposition party estimates that more than 500 of its supporters have been arrested since the start of the mass protests on Monday.

"The rogue regime has actively robbed you of your democratic and constitutional right to express yourselves peacefully against murder, rape, starvation, disease, violence and general misrule," the MDC said.

"Don't be afraid. No force is stronger than you. Victory is in sight."

About 40 MDC youths were arrested at a Bulawayo house were they were allegedly found manufacturing petrol bombs, according to police.

Mugabe has meanwhile defended the use of force by his security forces, saying they had acted in the interest of peace and stability.

"It is sad when we are forced as a government to use teargas against our own youth who are being misled, but we have to do it in the interests of peace and security," Mugabe told South Africa's SABC television news.

"We don't want to make our people suffer. We want our people to be free to express their free views," he said.

The High Court last weekend declared the MDC mass action against Mugabe's government illegal and warned that demonstrators would face "the full wrath of the law" if they defied the ban on the protests.

The MDC declaration of Friday as D-Day coincides with the 59th anniversary of the allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy in northern France, or D-Day, which marked the start of the campaign to liberate France and end World War II.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: africawatch; communism; robertmugabe; zimbabwe

1 posted on 06/06/2003 1:28:32 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: *AfricaWatch; Clive; sarcasm; Travis McGee; Byron_the_Aussie; robnoel; GeronL; ZOOKER; Bonaparte; ..
Bump!
2 posted on 06/06/2003 1:50:04 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Ever been to Victoria Falls?
3 posted on 06/06/2003 1:56:23 AM PDT by USMMA_83
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To: USMMA_83
Never been to Africa.
4 posted on 06/06/2003 2:01:21 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The darkness deepens.
5 posted on 06/06/2003 2:04:07 AM PDT by Freedom'sWorthIt
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Twenty years ago, you'd have loved it. We lived there for about 7 years. Some of the best times we ever had were living in Zambia and Tanzania. Now, you can only hope for a swift end to the madness.
6 posted on 06/06/2003 2:09:22 AM PDT by USMMA_83
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Bump
7 posted on 06/06/2003 2:52:35 AM PDT by Clive
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To: Clive
BUMP!
8 posted on 06/06/2003 6:19:45 AM PDT by happygrl
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Heads on Pikes!
9 posted on 06/06/2003 7:08:56 AM PDT by headsonpikes
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I wish a world leader would stand behind Tsvangirai. The MDC is headed for martyrdom and nothing more if there is no sword to back them up.
10 posted on 06/06/2003 7:26:02 AM PDT by xm177e2 (Stalinists, Maoists, Ba'athists, Pacifists: Why are they always on the same side?)
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To: xm177e2
Bump!
11 posted on 06/06/2003 11:54:46 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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