Africa News
Zimbabwe police put seven opposition MPs on wanted list
Jul 4, 2008, 12:06 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg - Police in Zimbabwe have put seven elected opposition members of parliament on a wanted list in a move that is likely to further dampen the possibility of a resumption of talks between President Robert Mugabe and his political rivals.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the seven were wanted in connection with crimes that range from inciting public violence and attempted murder.
Luke Tamborinyoka, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party's director of information, said Mugabe was talking peace but acting differently.
'This tells that this government is not serious about talks. How can we go to the table when half the leadership is either on the run or in police custody,' Tamborinyoka said.
'We have more than 100 supporters who have been killed in broad daylight, but no one has so far been arrested in connection with that.'
Tamborinyoka said the strategy of Mugabe's government 'is to vilify the members of parliament (MPs) and to reverse our majority in parliament after convicting them using subverted judiciary.'
'These are mainly MPs from rural areas where Zanu-PF has instilled fear in the electorate to cow them ahead of by-elections if they are convicted. The regime is not serious about talks,' he told dpa.
The MDC has demanded the release of political prisoners as a precondition to the resumption of talks with Zanu-PF, and the arrests of the seven will almost signal the stillbirth of the talks.
Meanwhile about 250 MDC supporters were Friday still encamped at the US embassy in Harare. The MDC supporters were displaced in the current wave of politically motivated violence.
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Bill from Kalamazoo, MI, USAJul 4th, 2008 - 16:09:22
Zimbabwe is being punished for returning various private properties to the rightful indigenous owners, the people of Zimbabwe. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, plus the EU, Britain and the US, through draconian sanctions, have brought Zimbabwe's economy to ruin, with the hope of fomenting a revolution there.
In my humble opinion, I believe that Mugabe is villified because of his solialist/communist background, which led to the confiscation and nationalisation of the white colonists' farms, and threatens the same for the privately owned platinum, diamond and gold mines as well.
I think that the reason various other leaders in Africa are reluctant to criticize Mugabe is his popularity, not only with his own people, but also with the general populations of some other African nations as well.
You know, at one time Britain had told Mugabe, back in the '80's or early '90's, that the UK would reimburse the white farmers for the land that Mugabe wanted to give back to his people. However, Britain later renegged, forcing Mr. Mugabe to keep a promise to his people by apropriating the land himself.
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