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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Pressure for Zimbabwe change |
| 2007-03-18 |
| As BBC News is banned from reporting inside Zimbabwe, Peter Biles has been following developments from Johannesburg: A week ago, we sat in the ballroom of a luxury hotel in Johannesburg. It was the annual dinner of the Foreign Correspondents' Association, and almost everyone from our Southern Africa press corps was there. For the guest of honour was Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change. Over the course of an hour or so, he gave us his assessment of the current situation in Zimbabwe. There was a need, he said, to confront Robert Mugabe's dictatorship on the streets. Mr Tsvangirai made it clear he was prepared for a brutal response from the state, for the banning of meetings, and for arrests. "We've been to jail in the past," he pointed out. Less than 48 hours later, Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of other activists were once again in police custody. And they were severely beaten in the process. The man who limped into court in Harare on Monday, with a serious head injury and his face heavily swollen, looked nothing like the confident figure who had sparred with the press, here in Johannesburg, a couple of days earlier. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Dictator's Manual, page one, Control The Media, Print only what "I" approve ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-03-18 17:58 |
| #1 Well hopefully it is the "beginning of the end" for Mugs - but oh my, what Morgan and the other MDC Supporters have endured in the last week, leaves a lot to be desired - it is just so depressing. But then Mugs goes on and does the following:- Mugabe threatens to expel envoys BBC Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to expel Western diplomats whom he accuses of supporting the political opposition. The veteran leader said diplomats who wanted to represent their countries had to "behave properly" or they would be thrown out. His government has faced criticism after opposition activists who tried to stage a rally in Harare were beaten. But the authorities say opposition protesters caused the violence. Earlier in the day, the bruised and bandaged opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, left hospital in a wheelchair. His colleagues say he was beaten in police custody after his arrest at the rally. Four of his colleagues remain in hospital. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has said she holds Mr Mugabe personally responsible for Mr Tsvangirai's injuries, and the US has said it is considering extending its sanctions on Zimbabwean officials. But Mr Mugabe has rejected the criticism and used a meeting with members of his ruling party's youth wing to hit out at diplomats. "We will kick them out of this country," the French news agency AFP quoted him as saying. "I have asked the minister of foreign affairs to summon them and read the riot act to them," he said. "We shall tell the ambassadors that this is not a country which is a piece of Europe." Information copied & supplied from the Site: http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/index. May God Bless one and all in Zimbabwe. |
| Posted by: rpg7 2007-03-18 13:03 |