Police crackdown on honk against Mugabe campaign in Zimbabwe*** Movement for Democratic Change lawmaker Abednico Bhebhe and senior aide Ferdinand Dropper were arrested late Thursday while putting up posters reading: "Hoot, enough is enough." Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Friday the men will be charged under strict new security laws, alleging their action was aimed at inciting public disorder and violence or would endanger public safety. The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in jail under the sweeping Public Order and Security Act that critics say was designed to stifle opposition to Mugabe.***
Mugabe resignation, transition deal considered in Zimbabwe***HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan 12, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- President Robert Mugabe would resign and a new power-sharing government would be formed under a deal that has been discussed by Zimbabwe's ruling party and opposition officials, mediators said Sunday. The offer was made by two of the ruling party's most powerful figures - Parliament speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and armed forces chief of staff Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe - and was an effort to help Zimbabwe regain international legitimacy and renewed aid and investment during a period of transitional rule, the mediators said. The mediators, fearing allegations of treason if the deal collapses, said assurances Mugabe would step down were conveyed to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
A power-sharing government would try to end an economic meltdown that has sent inflation soaring, caused a massive fuel shortage and left at least half Zimbabwe's population on the verge of starvation. Mugabe, who led the nation to independence in 1980, won a new six-year term in elections last March that independent observers said were deeply flawed. The MDC, along with Britain, the European Union and the United States, have refused to accept results, saying voting was rigged and influenced by violence and intimidation.
The early retirement of Mugabe, once seen as a towering African statesman, has long seemed inconceivable. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed receiving the offer and, in a departure from recent opposition policy, told the AP his party's lawmakers were ready to vote with the ruling party for a constitutional amendment allowing the creation of a caretaker government once Mugabe stepped down. Any agreement would include guarantees of immunity for Mugabe, 78, from prosecution over alleged misrule and human rights violations during his 23 years in power, Tsvangirai said.***