Posted on 12/05/2001 12:08:25 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Two shots were fired by a police surveillance team trailing the convoy, MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe told IRIN. No one was injured in the attack.
The incident followed an earlier use of teargas by the police on an impromptu crowd that had gathered when Tsvangirai stopped for a lunch break on his way to Maringe village, 70 km from Masvingo. [End Excerpt]
Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Reports to Police--[Excerpt] Tension in the southern Africa country is rising rapidly, with the opposition accusing Mugabe's supporters of violent intimidation and the United States and European Union clamping personal sanctions against the president and his inner circle.
Foreign correspondents and election observers saw hundreds of government supporters ambush MDC militants Sunday after Tsvangirai addressed a rally in Mugabe's home town of Chinhoyi.
The leader of the southern African regional observer mission, which includes members from Zimbabwe's neighbors, said a car carrying some of his team was hit but no one was injured.
The incidents capped a week in which police shot at Tsvangirai's campaign convoy, militants attacked an opposition office and self-styled liberation war veterans forced a white farmer and his family to flee their farm. [End Excerpt]
............. Over the weekend, groups of election observers from two southern African groups were stoned by rowdy supporters of Mr. Mugabe.
"We thought we would deploy our people throughout the country by Wednesday, but we have decided to delay," said Duke Lefhoko, leader of the southern African observer mission. "We've got to know if the government is committed to allowing us to do our jobs. We want to ensure the safety of our people." [End Excerpt]
Speaking in the House of Commons, Blair condemned Mugabe's government for charging key opposition leaders in Zimbabwe with treason, calling the president's behavior "undemocratic, wrong and dictatorial."
Mugabe, the country's only president since Zimbabwe won independence from British rule in 1980, faces one of his most difficult challenges during the presidential elections on March 9 and 10.
If the vote goes against Mugabe, Blair said, "We must be in a position to make sure that the properly, democratically elected government of Zimbabwe is supported." [End Excerpt]
But, what is Tony going to do, should Mugabe win, through his usual underhanded way ?
A week before a presidential election that domestic and foreign critics accuse Mugabe of trying to win by intimidation, his government did say it would respect a court ruling that overturned a law barring many Zimbabweans from voting.
The veteran president also told a senior delegation from regional power South Africa, which is increasingly worried about instability in Zimbabwe, that his main rival had not been charged with treason, contrary to earlier police statements.
Former colonial ruler Britain, accusing Mugabe of fostering violence in the campaign for the March 9-10 election, hopes to persuade other Commonwealth countries to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe when their leaders meet in Australia this weekend. [End Excerpt]
You are so right...two years ago I was working in eastern Africa with a lot of South Africans, (Safricans) and they laughed at the press coverage of Zimbabwe farm murders. They were always talking about the huge number of Safrican farmers who have been murdered under both Mandela and Mbeki.
All of Africa is an argument for a return to colonialism.
The colonial "white man's burden" argument doesn't have much appeal, anymore.
I'm sure he'll have a good worm recipe.
[Excerpt] Afghanistan needs not just food parcels, but British courts and Canadian police and Indian civil servants and U.S. town clerks and Australian newspapers. So does much of the rest of the region. Given the billions of dollars of damage done to the world economy by September 11th, massive engagement in the region will be cheaper than the alternative.
America has prided itself on being the first non-imperial superpower, but the viability of that strategy was demolished on September 11th. For its own security, it needs to do what it did to Japan and Germany after the war: civilize them. It needs to take up (in Kipling's words), "the white man's burden," a phrase that will have to be modified in the age of Colin Powell and Condi Rice but whose spirit is generous and admirable.[End Excerpt]
And politicians run when he screams, "Racist!"
Mark Steyn-- What the Afghans need is colonizing [Excerpt] Afghanistan needs not just food parcels, but British courts and Canadian police and Indian civil servants and U.S. town clerks and Australian newspapers. So does much of the rest of the region. Given the billions of dollars of damage done to the world economy by September 11th, massive engagement in the region will be cheaper than the alternative.
America has prided itself on being the first non-imperial superpower, but the viability of that strategy was demolished on September 11th. For its own security, it needs to do what it did to Japan and Germany after the war: civilize them. It needs to take up (in Kipling's words), "the white man's burden," a phrase that will have to be modified in the age of Colin Powell and Condi Rice but whose spirit is generous and admirable.[End Excerpt]
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