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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Zimbabwe police arrest 10 opposition MPs - party |
| 2009-08-20 |
| Zimbabwean police on Wednesday arrested 10 opposition parliamentarians from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC, a party spokesman said, a move likely to raise tensions in the new unity government. Cooperation between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF is crucial as the six-month-old administration tries to win vital funding from donors who are demanding faster political and economic reforms. "I have received a report to the effect that 10 of our MPs have been detained by the police. We are still unclear as to the circumstances and motive of the arrest," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. The MPs' lawyer, Tafadzwa Mugabe, told reporters the politicians were arrested and accused of disorderly conduct at the offices of a senior official in the finance ministry. "I do not have details as to what sort of disturbances they were involved in. I am not sure what the charges will be," said Mugabe. The police were not immediately available for comment. Mugabe's opponents and the small remaining community of white farmers still complain of detentions and harassment, but the unity government has functioned better than many believed possible. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, which defeated Mugabe's ZANU-PF in last year's parliamentary polls, accuses Mugabe of plotting to whittle down its majority by arresting its lawmakers on various charges. Before Wednesday's arrests, at least seven MDC MPs faced charges that the party described as trumped up, and five have already been convicted of various crimes. Four of them were sentenced to more than six months in jail, which automatically disqualifies them from holding their parliamentary seats, according to Zimbabwean law. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 It would be good to hear that the trees, what trees? have regrown, and houses are selling. They are, but only as get outa-jail cards for the last ones left. Apparently, Zimbos cross the border, (Beitbridge?), into SA with a Zim Police stamp on a piece of A4 paper. The Zimbabwification of South Africa as a failed state led by and founded by terrorists, abetted by and admired, approved of in the UK. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2009-08-20 20:51 |
| #1 In other news, Mafikeng has been relieved. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-08-20 08:29 |