The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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Mugabe's 'Brownshirts' target exclusive Harare suburb

A gang of Mugabe's "youth brigade" rampaged through one of Harare's
exclusive shopping centres on Sunday, forcing shoppers to chant party
slogans and sing songs predicting a victory for the President in the
forthcoming election.

This is the first time that either war vets or the youth brigades have
targeted Harare's exclusive northern suburbs, home to many of the city's
wealthiest black and white residents and most of Mugabe's ministers.

Chisipite Shopping Centre lies four kilometres north of the city centre and
has two rows of shops on set either side of an access road.

"They arrived at 11 o'clock and grabbed all the black people who were
waiting at a bus stop next to the shops," said a vendor who sells fruit and
vegetables in the centre car park and who asked not to be named for fear of
attack.

"There were 20 ZANU PF youths and they threatened people with beatings if
they refused to join in a salute to the ruling party. They made them run up
and down the road outside the shops and shout slogans against the
opposition," said the vendor. "They forced us to join in even though they
know that, in this area, very few people support Mugabe."

The youths did not enter the stores which were open for Sunday shopping.
One black woman who was about to get into her Mercedes in the car park ran
back into the supermarket with her three children.

"This is terrible," she said to other shoppers who were sheltering in the
store. "They have come to town. It's a nightmare."

Police officers also sheltered in the shops and made no effort to interfere
until, after 20 minutes, the party youths allowed their captives to
disperse. Two officers then spoke to some of the shoppers and asked if
anyone had been beaten but it seems that no assaults took place.

President Mugabe (77) faces an election in March and has passed repressive
laws to stop the opposition from campaigning or even criticising him. His
supporters have been assaulting people in the rural areas and the
working-class suburbs around Harare for two years but this is the first
time they have moved into the northern part of town.

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MUGABE'S DELUSIONS OF POWER

House Editorial
 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in denial. The aging
strongman promised to hold free and fair elections at last
week's 14-nation Southern African Development Community
(SADC) summit in Malawi. This, just after the Zimbabwean
parliament, dominated by his ZANU-PF party, passed laws to
criminalize criticism of the president, ban independent
election monitors, and deny millions of Zimbabweans living
abroad the ability to vote. Indeed, there is much to
criticize about Mr. Mugabe's reign. His "land reform" policy
backs militant blacks in the forced takeover of land from
white - and more recently, black - farmers, preventing the
production of tobacco, which supplies Zimbabwe with 30
percent of its export earnings. Yet Mr. Mugabe still doesn't
realize he is on his way out. In February 2000, voters
rejected a new constitution which would grant him 12 more
years in power and the right to confiscate farmers' lands
without compensation. He ignored the will of the people
then, just as he does now. At the SADC meeting, Malawian
President Bakili Muluzi's request that Mr. Mugabe resolve
his country's political and economic crises did not phase
the Zimbabwean dictator, who has been in power for 22 years.
A smug Mr. Mugabe emerged from the meeting announcing that
"All is well that ends well." There would be no change in
his land-robbery policy, he insisted.

At home, Mr. Mugabe is militantly averse to any opposition.
Last weekend government-backed militants beat and critically
injured opposition activists. Ruling party members also
burned down the offices of the Movement for Democratic
Change opposition party. Meanwhile, Rep. Ed Royce, chairman
of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa,
revealed Wednesday that the United States and the United
Kingdom were tracking the assets of Mr. Mugabe and his
associates. Zimbabwean officials were transferring the
money, thought to be millions of dollars, to safe havens in
Europe and the United States ahead of the March elections,
Mr. Royce said.

Washington and the European Union are considering freezing
the accounts of Mr. Mugabe, his family and other government
officials and limiting their travel abroad. This is
well-advised, and would send a distinct message to Mr.
Mugabe that his corrupt practices are unacceptable. In
London, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has called for Zimbabwe
to be suspended from the British Commonwealth if there is no
reform by March, an action that would likely leave the
country in irreparable disrepair. A man who must steal land,
money and power to remain on the throne is very weak indeed.
The international community, and especially the SADC, must
use the next two months to pressure Mr. Mugabe to stop
blocking democratic reform. Unless he finds his way back to
reality before then, Mr. Mugabe will be whistling past his
own political graveyard.
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Bulawayo rally report--Eddie Cross



Democracy in Zimbabwe.

Today (the 20th January 2002) I planned to attend a rally at White City
Stadium in Bulawayo scheduled for this morning with Morgan Tsvangirai as the
main speaker. I picked up several members from our district and we proceeded
to the venue at 10.00 hrs.

When we were still some 2 kilometers from the venue crowds of people shouted
at us not to proceed - they said "it is a no go area" at present. We asked
what had happened and they said the Police had thrown a cordon around the
stadium and were tear gassing any one trying to reach the stadium. I stopped
the vehicle and waited to see what was happening when a Police vehicle
carrying about 20 men from the Police Support Unit approached and fired a
tear gas shell at the crowd standing on the side of the road.

We fled and returned to the Party offices where there were a number of
people gathered - many suffering from the aftermath of tear gas. The Police
took the number of my vehicle as we left the scene but did not attempt to
stop us leaving the area.

How can we in the MDC be expected to campaign for the election - now only 48
days away, when the main opposition candidate cannot even hold a meeting? At
no time did I see any evidence this morning of violence on the part of the
MDC supporters. There may have been elsewhere but the crowd I was with were
singing slogans and that was all.

Last week a consignment of food scheduled for delivery to Save the Children
Fund in the Hwange area, was hijacked by Obert Mpofu (Zanu PF Governor of
Matebeleland North) and given to Zanu PF Auxiliaries in the area. The food
was paid for by Save the Children Fund (UK) and was destined for children's
feeding programs in the area. The food situation is desperate with virtually
no stocks of maize meal - the basic staple food of the country, now
available.

Eddie Cross

20th January 2002
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January 10 2002.
Honourable Members,
The European Union Council of Ministers,
Brussels.
Honourable Ministers,
We would like to take this opportunity once again to dialogue with you on
the eve of the arrival of the Zimbabwean Ministerial delegation for the
scheduled talks under the auspices of Article 96 as provided for under the
Cotonou Agreement of the EU/ACP Partnership.
Since our December 18 2001 message to Mr. Louis Michel, the situation on the
ground in Zimbabwe has deteriorated to dangerous and explosive levels. Under
the prevailing circumstances, it is not possible to hold free and fair
elections. The infrastructure of violence that has enveloped the whole
country is the first step in a grand plan to effectively rig the forthcoming
presidential poll. The regime of violence has been intensified during the
festive season but especially since December 31 2001. This marked the
initial phase of the nation-wide deployment of ZANU PF militias trained
under the auspices of the so-called National Youth Training Programme. Over
the past 12 days about 6 supporters and officials of the Movement for
Democratic Change have been murdered in cold blood with scores abducted and
facing an unknown fate. The brutalisation, torture, rape and murder of the
rural population has reached unprecedented levels with hundreds of people
forced to flee their homesteads. In Masvingo, Matebeland North, Matebeleland
South and the Midlands provinces, the militias have been complemented by the
deployment of soldiers of the Zimbabwe National Army. The overall strategy
is to brutalize and cow down the rural population into submission. In the
urban areas we are witnessing the degeneration of entire neighbourhoods into
virtual war zones as ZANU PF militias, clad in the Zimbabwe National Army
(ZNA) military uniforms and shepherded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
rampage through the streets beating up defenceless people, destroying,
burning and looting property.
The situation in the urban areas can easily degenerate into civil war as
people stand up to defend themselves against these murderous militias. This
is already happening.
Provincial capital cities such as Bindura in the Mashonaland West Province
and others have been virtually sealed to outsiders, with residents being
beaten and brutalized and forced to buy ZANU PF membership cards. This is
the effective implementation of the ZANU PF's declared strategy to make it
virtually impossible for free and democratic campaigning by the opposition
political parties in the rural areas and the smaller cities and towns.
The Service Chiefs, i.e. the overall commander of the Zimbabwe National
Army, the commanders of the Ground Forces and the Air Force, the Police
Commissioner and the Director General of the Central Intelligence Agency,
who are all either office bearers or party activists in ZANU PF, announced
to the nation on January 9 2002, that they will not accept an election
result in which ZANU PF loses. Under Zimbabwe law, this is an act of treason
actively supported by the government of the day.
The ZANU PF-dominated Parliament of Zimbabwe has legislated into law 3
pieces of legislation, viz., the Public Order and Security Bill, the
Amendments to the Electoral Act, and the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Bill. All these laws are meant to severely curtail
democratic freedoms, disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans,
criminalize legitimate democratic political activity and generally enable
ZANU PF to rig the elections.
In the context of this combination of bogus/ draconian legislation and
sustained regimes of violence, free and fair elections are virtually
impossible.
Mugabe's government is busy predetermining the poll result. The machinery of
a rigged or stolen election is already in place. We are appealing to
European Union to make it clear to the Zimbabwe Ministerial delegation the
consequences of a stolen or rigged presidential poll especially on the key
players in the unfolding tragedy. The European Union should be quite clear
about the standards against which to judge whether the people of Zimbabwe
will have had the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to choose a
presidential candidate of their own choice in an environment that is free
from state-sponsored violence. The Zimbabwe government must be told in no
uncertain terms that the international community expects them to immediately
start putting in place minimum conditions for a free and fair presidential
poll.
In particular the EU must insist that:
All preparations for the presidential poll and the actual conduct of the
poll must be done in accordance with the SADC Electoral Standards of March
2001, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
All legislation that is inimical to the implementation of the SADC Electoral
Standards, such as the Public Order and Security Bill, the Amendment to the
Electoral Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill and
Amendment to the Labour Relations Bill must be abandoned forthwith.
International and local election monitors must be deployed in Zimbabwe
immediately.
The ZANU PF militias must be demobilised immediately.
An end to all forms of state-sponsored political violence.
Church, civic organizations and non-governmental organizations must be free
to conduct voter education.
Opposition political parties must be free to conduct democratic campaigning
across the length and breath of the entire country.
Immediate equal access by all political parties to state controlled print
and electronic media.
An unconditional withdrawal of the partisan political statement made by the
commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, General Vitalis Zvinavashe on
January 9 2002.
A commitment to political neutrality and respect of the political choices of
the people on the part of the police, the air force and the army.

Even at this late hour, the above conditions could constitute the barest
minimum conditions for a reasonably free presidential poll. We believe that
it is time the EU reins in the Harare regime to ensure that it adheres to
internationally accepted norms of democracy, good governance and the
observance of human rights. In that regard the EU must clearly spell out to
the Zimbabwe Ministerial delegation that a government that emerges from a
rigged election will receive no international recognition. We also believe
that the EU should set a period of about two weeks (up to say January 25
2002) for the government to comply with the above minimum conditions for the
presidential poll. Failure by the Mugabe regime to comply should immediately
attract swift and punitive measures against the perpetrators of the current
outrage.
Morgan Tsvangirai,
MDC President
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ZIMBABWE: Journalists protest bill

JOHANNESBURG, 21 January (IRIN) - Zimbabwean journalists who gathered in Harare on Saturday have resolved to defy a proposed new media bill expected to be considered by parliament later this week.

In a statement on Monday 21 January, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said: "The journalists who gathered under the auspices of the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa resolved that none of them would comply with the registration requirements as proposed in the bill."

MISA added that the journalists also decided to send a delegation to Minister of State for Information Jonathan Moyo's office with a third petition on the concerns of journalists operating in Zimbabwe. The same petition would be sent to the speaker of parliament and the chief whips of the two main parties, the ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and all parliamentarians.

"In deciding on the contents of the petition the journalists agreed that there is no need to take a confrontational approach at the moment, as the amendments that are being made on the bill are not yet out," the statement said. It added that a "series" of court challenges would be launched challenging various "oppressive" sections of the bill.

Under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, all journalists and owners of media organisations would be required to register with a governments-appointed body or risk two years in prison. The proposed legislation would also ban foreign journalists from working in the country.

Meanwhile, in a separate media alert issued on Sunday, MISA said that copies of the independent weekly newspaper the Financial Gazette and the Daily News had been destroyed by ZANU-PF supporters on 10 January on their way to the airport to welcome Congolese President Joseph Kabila.
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Business Day

It is not too late to act on Mugabe

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

WHILE the Southern African Development Community (SADC) dithers Zimbabwe
burns. The main reason why there is no action taken against Mugabe is that
the SADC leaders themselves all want to stay in power forever at any cost.

As foreign minister, why is it that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is never around
to give her undivided attention to these local hotspot matters?

Mugabe will more than likely win the election, with the help of massive
electoral fraud. What then will be the response from our SADC?

Corrective action is still not too late. If not implemented, history will
record the resultant disaster on us.

Howard Skeens Boksburg
Jan 21 2002 08:30:00:000AM  Business Day 1st Edition
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New Statesman

Our guilt gives Mugabe a green light

Graham Boynton Monday 21st January 2002

Zimbabwe's dictator gets away with murder by playing on our past. By Graham
Boynton

If a truly free and fair presidential election were held in Zimbabwe
tomorrow, I doubt that Robert Mugabe would win even 20 per cent of the
popular vote. In two recent tests of public opinion - a constitutional
referendum in February 2000 and a general election four months later -
Mugabe and his government lost.

After the referendum, he admitted defeat and then proceeded to launch a
ferocious assault on the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC). In the run-up to the general election, MDC candidates and
supporters were systematically murdered, kidnapped and tortured; commercial
farms throughout the country were torched; and although the government
claimed to have won 62 seats to the MDC's 57, the results in 37
constituencies were challenged because of quite outrageous irregularities.
One monitor described to me how he and colleagues had had to chase a police
Land Rover over miles of open bushel as its occupants - senior police
officers - attempted to abscond with two full ballot boxes.

While he retains the loyalty of old hardline stalwarts of the ruling party
such as the foreign minister, Stan Mudenge and the vice-president, Simon
Muzenda, Mugabe has had to buy off the generals and police chiefs, and they
in turn have had to buy off their forces . . . and the money is starting to
run out. Meanwhile, the economy has become dysfunctional and, as a direct
result of the violent, 18-month campaign against white farmers, a
countrywide famine looms. This in a country that only five years ago was the
breadbasket of Central Africa.

And yet here he is, about to become president for a fourth term, and we will
probably see him back on the global stage later this year, attending
conferences, going on trade missions and generally convincing the west that
it is the responsibility of western countries, as former colonial
oppressors, to contribute foreign aid, famine relief and diplomatic
recognition to save his beleaguered country.

African despots such as Mugabe have been running rings around western
politicians for years. For more than two decades, Mugabe has systematically
manipulated world leaders and those of neighbouring African countries. When
Jack Straw emerged from the talks in Abuja, Nigeria, last September
proclaiming "a major breakthrough" and reassuring us that Mugabe had agreed
to stop the illegal land invasions by his so-called "war veterans" and hold
free and fair elections, the only people who believed it were the delegates
and their government ministries. Within a week, Zimbabweans were witnessing
an escalation of land invasions. In the months following the signing of the
Abuja Accord, Mugabe has introduced draconian laws to crush press freedom
and punish any form of dissent, making it clear that neither independent
international monitors nor unapproved foreign journalists will be allowed to
attend the presidential election in March. This month, he promised a meeting
in Malawi of Southern African heads of government that the election would be
free and fair, and that international monitors would be welcome. They left
the summit announcing, as did Straw after Abuja, that they were pleased with
the breakthrough and expected Mugabe to keep his word. As tens of thousands
of "greenshirts", the youth militia trained by Zanu-PF, Mugabe's party,
fanned out across the countryside threatening and beating those not carrying
Zanu-PF party cards, one could forgive the locals for showing less
enthusiasm for their president's promises.

The rogue Mugabe is not a monster who emerged recently - his penchant for
using the mailed fist at the first sign of serious opposition dates back to
his debut election campaign in 1980. He came to power on a wave of violence
and intimidation, and it suited international observers and the former
colonial rulers to turn a blind eye. I covered that election as a young
white liberal journalist and can now reflect, with the wisdom of hindsight,
how most of us - white liberal journalists, that is - chose to overlook the
election irregularities and violence, in the belief that black majority rule
was the important prize.

By 1984, Mugabe had launched the Korean-trained Fifth Brigade on the
dissident Matabele (the government is almost exclusively made up of people
from the Shona tribe). Human rights organisations say that more than 10,000
men, women and children were killed, and twice that number tortured and
beaten, in an ethnic cleansing campaign that was largely ignored by the
international community.

Meanwhile, the beneficiaries of Mugabe's land redistribution programme are
cabinet ministers, ministers' relatives, generals and bought businessmen -
confirming the cynicism of Mugabe's vision of an egalitarian, post-colonial
Zimbabwe.

Mugabe continues to portray his current campaign as an attempt to redress
the imbalances created by the British colonial occupation. Most Zimbabweans
I know don't buy it, but guilty western liberals do. Yet, if our collective
liberal-democratic conscience determines that actions which are not
acceptable in the First World may be acceptable in the Third World for
cultural reasons - as I did as a young man, watching Mugabe's accession to
power - then surely we are succumbing to racism.

Watch out for the next chapter in this sorry tale - the international
rehabilitation of Robert Mugabe - and weep.

Graham Boynton traces the end of white rule in Africa in Last Days in Cloud
Cuckooland (Random House)


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MSNBC

Zimbabwe warned on land pact, police patrol city

HARARE, Jan. 21 — Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo warned on Monday that
a deal he brokered last year to stop often violent land grabs in Zimbabwe
risked collapse as the worsening crisis heightened concerns among Harare's
neighbours.
Obasanjo, on a brief visit to Zimbabwe, made the comments as Zimbabwean
police patrolled the streets of the southern city of Bulawayo a day after at
least 20 people were injured in clashes involving opponents of President
Robert Mugabe.
       The violence in Zimbabwe's second city on Sunday was the first major
clash this year between Mugabe's supporters and the opposition ahead of
March 9-10 presidential elections in which Mugabe faces the toughest
challenge of his 22-year rule.
       The growing crisis in Zimbabwe has raised concerns among its
neighbours, including South Africa where President Thabo Mbeki said on
Monday ''the instability has gone on for far too long.''
       Obasanjo met with Mugabe and opposition politicians to discuss a deal
reached in Abuja, Nigeria, in September aimed at ending a crisis spawned by
the invasions of white-owned farms over the past two years by pro-government
militants.
       ''Parties to the Abuja Agreement should work towards ensuring that
the agreement does not become a dead letter and make it work,'' state-run
radio said in commentary on Obasanjo's remarks.

MEDIA BILL
       Nigerian officials said talks with Mugabe also included Zimbabwe's
controversial media bill -- expected to be debated in parliament on
Tuesday -- which bans foreigners from working as journalists in Zimbabwe.
       Mugabe accuses foreign news organisations and the private media in
Zimbabwe of backing a campaign by his opponents locally and abroad to topple
him in retaliation for the land seizures.
       Mugabe promised regional leaders a week ago to hold free and fair
presidential elections and allow foreign media and independent poll
observers to cover the vote.
       Western and some African governments are placing Mugabe and his
lieutenants under increasing pressure over the way they are governing
Zimbabwe, its human rights record and its introduction of laws seen
shackling opposition to its rule.
       Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria on Monday: ''The levels of poverty
and conflict are increasing, and if you add to that a fraudulent election,
it has to be avoided.''
       ''The critical challenge is to do whatever needs to be done to make
sure you have free and fair elections. We, this region, must do everything
to assist the people of Zimbabwe,'' he said.
       Zimbabwe's economy is in its fourth straight year of recession, with
inflation and unemployment at all-time highs.
       The Central Statistics Office said on Monday the consumer price index
rose by a record 112.1 percent in the year to December, due to higher prices
for food, rent and rates.


LAND DEAL IN JEOPARDY
       Farmers and critics say Mugabe has largely ignored the Abuja
Agreement to end the land chaos which has left nine white farmers dead,
scores of black farm workers assaulted and thousands of others displaced
since February 2000.
       Under the pact, Harare agreed to end the invasions in return for
financial help from former colonial power Britain for a fair and orderly
land reform programme.
       Mugabe, who insists his government is respecting the accord, says
some 4,500 white farmers occupy 70 percent of Zimbabwe's best farmland. He
wants to seize at least 8.3 million hectares of the 12 million in white
hands.
       Obasanjo said a report by a United Nations team which visited
Zimbabwe in December may help move land reform forward and speed the release
of British funds, the radio said.
       Obasanjo also met opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who poses a serious challenge to Mugabe in the
March polls. An MDC official said Obasanjo told Tsvangirai that Mugabe had
promised him he would end the political violence which has heightened ahead
of the polls.
       Obasanjo's arrival on Sunday was preceded by violence in which
thousands of people were teargassed when police and ruling ZANU-PF party
militants broke up an MDC rally in Bulawayo.
       ''There was mayhem. People were running in all directions with the
police chasing them,'' said one local journalist covering the rally.
       Police on Monday denied attacking the opposition, which has a strong
presence in Bulawayo, and said they had intervened only to break up fighting
between rival groups.
       They also denied rumours that four people had died in the clashes,
and said four officers were injured in melee.

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MSNBC
Zimbabwe police patrol tense Bulawayo after clashes

HARARE, Jan. 21 — Zimbabwe police patrolled part's of Bulawayo on Monday
after at least 20 people were hurt the day before in street battles
involving opponents of President Robert Mugabe, local residents and
journalists said.
 The violence in Zimbabwe's second city was the first major clash this year
between Mugabe's supporters and opponents ahead of a presidential election
on March 9 and 10 in which Mugabe is seen facing the toughest challenge yet
to his 22-year rule.
       Bulawayo, with a population of 1.5 million, was tense on Monday with
police patrolling black townships where thousands of supporters of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had fought running battles
on Sunday with police.
       After activists from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party had broken up an attempt
by the MDC to hold a rally at a city stadium on Sunday police had fired
teargas and rubber bullets at MDC supporters, two local journalists said.
       A woman working in Bulawayo, widely seen as an MDC stronghold, spoke
by telephone to Reuters in the capital Harare and said at least 20 people
had been taken to hospital on Sunday. One of them was in intensive care.
       ''The guys who work at my firm say four police cars were smashed and
policemen were beaten up. There is a photograph of an injured policeman on
the front page of today's newspaper,'' she added.
       A Bulawayo police spokesman, Inspector Manzini Moyo, denied local
rumours that four people had been killed in the violence: ''No, that is not
true.''
       Police said four officers had been injured.
       The journalists told Reuters of children trampled in a rush from the
stadium after police fired teargas into the crowd of up to 10,000 that had
been stoned by militants inside the venue.

PRESSURE ON MUGABE
       ''There was mayhem. People were running in all directions with the
police chasing them. People ran into nearby residential areas. Police fired
teargas indiscriminately into those areas, making people living there very
angry,'' said one journalist.
       Mugabe has come under increasing international pressure over his
handling of the crisis engulfing Zimbabwe, his government's record on human
rights and press freedom and its passing of laws to tighten its grip on
power.
       The MDC says nearly 100 of its supporters have been killed in
political violence since February 2000 when militants led by veterans of the
1970s war against white rule began often violent seizures of white-owned
farms with government backing.
       A group of youths was bussed to the stadium from outside Bulawayo and
occupied the venue on Saturday, spending the night singing and chanting
ZANU-PF slogans, local journalists said.
       ''They harassed people living near the stadium. They demanded to see
ZANU-PF membership cards. People who didn't have those cards were taken into
the stadium and forced to sing, others were tortured,'' one Bulawayo
journalist said.
       The opposition swept all the seats in Bulawayo that were contested at
last year's parliamentary election.
       Sunday's violence was the first major clash since November when the
two main parties torched each others' buildings in Bulawayo.
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MSNBC

Ghana slams old friend Mugabe on Zimbabwe crisis

ACCRA, Jan. 21 — Ghana broke its silence on Zimbabwe's political crisis on
Monday, openly criticising its long standing ally President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe, who sheltered in Ghana before seizing power in Zimbabwe and married
a Ghanaian, has come under growing criticism from abroad over his backing
for violent seizures of white-owned land and over his human rights record.
       Ghana has until now refrained from commenting on the crisis but
Foreign Minister Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, in an interview with Reuters,
accused Mugabe's government of passing ''oppressive laws.''
       ''The attempt being made by Mr Mugabe to suppress the legitimate
aspirations of the opposition, muzzle the press, and refuse to recognise
international observers could undermine the credibility of the elections due
in March,'' Owusu-Agyeman said.
       Mugabe, whose government wants to bar foreign journalists, faces the
hardest test of his 22-year rule in a March presidential poll against the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
       ''The elections must be conducted on the basis of universally
accepted democratic principles,'' Owusu-Agyeman said, adding that Ghana had
a duty to speak out as a fellow Commonwealth member.
       Ghana backed Zimbabwe's struggle for black majority rule led by
Mugabe, who lived in Ghana for much of the 1960s and once worked as a
teacher in the Ghanaian port town of Takoradi.
       Diplomats said Owusu-Agyeman's remarks indicated growing resistance
within Africa to Mugabe's methods.
       Much previous criticism has come from Western countries but some
African leaders have joined a chorus of disapproval as Zimbabwe's
instability undermines economies across the region.
       South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday instability in
Zimbabwe had gone on ''for far too long.''
       Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, visiting Zimbabwe a day after
police and supporters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party clashed with opponents, said
a deal he brokered last year to stop land grabs by self-styled veterans of
Mugabe's black power struggle risked collapse.
       Owusu-Agyeman said Ghana backed fair redistribution of land in
Zimbabwe, but said ''it should be done according to the due process of law
so that it does not unduly threaten the economic stability of the entire
region.''
       A declaration by Zimbabwe's army that it would not recognise the
presidency of anyone who did not fight in the liberation war was
''unfortunate,'' he added.
       ''The power to make or remove a government lies with the people,'' he
said. ''Once their will is expressed in a free and fair election, it ought
to be respected by everyone, the armed forces included.''

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Business Report

Zimbabwe board confiscates hoarded maize
Reuters
January 21 2002 at 02:33PM

Harare - Zimbabwe's state grain board has impounded more than 36,000 tonnes
of maize from commercial farmers, accusing them of hoarding, the official
Herald newspaper reported on Monday.

"The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has in the past six weeks impounded over
36,00 tonnes of maize which had been concealed by some commercial farmers,"
the Herald said.

President Robert Mugabe's government, grappling with a looming food crisis,
has repeatedly accused white farmers of withholding the staple grain to
create false shortages in retaliation for its drive to seize white-owned
farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

On Monday the Herald quoted Agriculture Minister Joseph Made as saying some
farmers involved were foreign nationals whose land had been taken off a list
of farms targeted for compulsory seizure under bilateral agreements with
their home countries.

Made said about 6,000 tonnes of maize were "discovered" at the Forrester
Estate in northeast Zimbabwe, which is owned by a German family. The German
embassy had unsuccessfully tried to stop the GMB from impounding the maize,
the Herald said.

"We cannot have a situation where people are starving while others are
withholding maize," Made told the paper.

"We came up with arrangements to allow them to invest in good faith but when
they start behaving like this they may have to go and invest in their own
countries."

German embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.

Mugabe's government, which last year restored the GMB's monopoly on all
maize trade in a bid to boost flagging official strategic reserves, has also
put in place legislation forbidding producers from withholding maize stocks
without declaring their existence to the board.

In December the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said it had launched an
urgent appeal for $60 million to buy food for more than half a million
people in Zimbabwe facing severe hunger.

The WFP said Mugabe's government had signed a letter of understanding
outlining the emergency moves to provide food aid to 558,000 rural
Zimbabweans hit by drought, floods and the country's economic crisis.

The government has not made public the results of a tender floated in
December to import 150,000 tonnes of white maize, mainly targeted at
producers in neighbouring South Africa.

Industry officials say Zimbabwe may need to import up to 600,000 tonnes of
maize to supplement domestic output, which fell sharply to 1.476 million
tonnes in the 2000 to 2001 season from 2.04 million the previous year.

Officials blame the drop mainly on drought and lower output after the often
violent invasion of white-owned farms by militants in support of Mugabe's
controversial land reforms.

In its latest report on the food situation in Zimbabwe, the U.S. based
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) said Zimbabwe's official maize
reserves were estimated down at 86,169 tonnes in mid-December from 96,096 in
late November.

"The ongoing decline is a concern because no substantial imports are
expected in the country before late January 2002. Maize stocks...could run
out before the end of January as no substantial local intake is expected,"
FEWSNET said. - Reuters


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Business Day

Inflation in Zimbabwe soars to 112%

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

HARARE - Inflation in Zimbabwe kept rising in December, as the annual rate
hit 112.1% for 2001, the government's Central Statistical Office (CSO) said
Monday.
That was 8.3 percentage points higher than the November rate of 103.8%, CSO
said.

The rate was twice as high as in the year 2000, when inflation was 55.2%,
according to CSO.

The latest increase was caused mainly by rising prices of bread, cereals,
fruit, vegetables, rent and taxes, the report said.

AFP


   Monday
21 January 2002
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Hospitals Suffering From Drug Shortage in Zimbabwe


HARARE, Jan 21, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health
and
Child Welfare said here on Monday that the major hospitals in the country
are
experiencing a severe shortage of drugs because of the persistent shortage
of
foreign currency in the country.

"We are having serious problems in procuring drugs from overseas because
there
is no hard currency to pay for them," said the ministry.

It noted the general shortage of essential drugs in the referral hospitals
in
the country was a major cause of concern as thousands of people were dying
from
illnesses that could be treated if drugs were available.

"Even in private hospitals most drugs are not available and in cases where
the
drugs are available the price has skyrocketed," the ministry added.

It gave an example of Insulin for diabetic patients which used to cost about
2,700 Zimbabwean dollars (about 49 U.S. dollars) in October last year and
now
costs about 18,000 Zimbabwean dollars (about 327 dollars).

Zimbabwe is experiencing an economic downturn characterized by the
unavailability of foreign currency which has largely contributed to the
country's ailing health delivery system.

The price of most drugs shot up by more than 150 percent last year alone and
some flea markets and back room pharmacies are doing roaring business
selling
drugs, some of them rejects, fake or already expired.

Copyright 2002 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY


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ANANOVA

Nigerian leader's Zimbabwe visit overshadowed by violence

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has ended crisis talks in Zimbabwe with
criticism of the government's often violent land redistribution programme.

Mr Obasanjo flew into the capital, Harare, to discuss Zimbabwe's deepening
political crisis with President Robert Mugabe.

Before his plane touched down, police used tear gas to quell violence in the
second city of Bulawayo.

In September, Zimbabwe signed a deal drawn up by Nigeria calling for an end
to violent seizures of white-owned farms and guarantees ensuring free and
fair presidential elections in March.

Zimbabwe insists it has complied with the deal but Obasanjo said the accord
had moved slowly and appealed to all parties not to lose hope.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said its supporters were
attacked by ruling party militants trying to stop them entering a sports
stadium for the rally. At least 18 people were injured before the event was
abandoned.

Violence also continued in farming districts north west of Harare. Shots
were heard in the town of Banket.

Obasanjo's visit came ahead of bitter presidential elections on March 9-10,
when Mugabe is fighting for political survival.

Mugabe's government has come under intense criticism from Britain, the EU
and the United States for failing to curb lawlessness and imposing a ban on
independent election observers.

Story filed: 09:02 Monday 21st January 2002
Yahoo News

Monday January 21 10:30 AM ET
Nigerian Leader Ends Zimbabwe Talks
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Nigeria's president criticized the slow
implementation of a peace deal in Zimbabwe as he wrapped up several hours of
overnight crisis talks aimed at helping end political violence there.

State radio said Olusegun Obasanjo left for home at around 3 a.m. Monday,
six hours after flying to Harare for talks with President Robert Mugabe on
Zimbabwe's deepening political crisis.

The radio said the Nigerian president also met with opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai during the night.

Zimbabwe in September signed a deal drawn up by Nigeria calling for an end
to violent seizures of white-owned farms, foreign aid to fund an orderly
land reform program, and guarantees of fair presidential elections in March.

Zimbabwe insists it has complied with the accord.

State radio said Monday Obasanjo appealed to Zimbabwe and cosignatories in
the agreement, including Britain, the former colonial power, ``to work
toward making it work.''

He said the accord had ``moved at a slow pace'' and appealed to all parties
``not to lose hope and give peace a chance,'' state radio reported.

On Sunday, violence erupted in Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo,
ahead of Obasanjo's visit. Police fired tear gas to disperse rival party
supporters who clashed before an opposition rally.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said its supporters were
attacked by ruling party militants trying to prevent them from entering a
sports stadium for the rally. At least 18 people were injured.

The state-controlled Herald newspaper on Monday said opposition supporters
attacked police before the rally. It said four police, two of them senior
officers, were seriously injured.

But the opposition claimed about 150 ruling party militants camped in the
stadium overnight to block the entrances and stop an expected crowd of
15,000 from attending. It alleged police refused to clear out the militants
ahead of the rally.

Thousands of people converging on the stadium fled police tear gas, and the
rally was abandoned.

Other countries are increasingly concerned about Zimbabwe's violence and the
economic problems it has brought. On Monday, German President Johannes Rau
said he was worried about Zimbabwe's failure to enforce the rule of law and
human rights.

``They are very much threatened, and that in itself poses a threat to the
African continent as a whole,'' Rau during a trip to South Africa.

The Australian government said Monday it had made plans to evacuate
Australians from Zimbabwe if the civil unrest worsens ahead of the
elections. About 900 Australians live in Zimbabwe.


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From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 20 January

My brush with Zanu mob rule on the election trail of terror

Robert Mugabe’s strategy is simple: to intimidate his people into re-electing him. On a lonely country road, Philip Sherwell ran into one of the teenage gangs that are now spreading fear throughout Zimbabwe.

A gang of teenage boys, young men and a few slightly older women emerged suddenly from the shoulder-high grass as we drove along the bumpy road. Clubs and sticks held threateningly aloft, they surrounded the car, pounded the bonnet and screamed at us to produce our Zanu PF membership cards and deliver the party salute. It was an intimidating introduction to electioneering in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Supporters of his ruling Zanu PF party last week turned swathes of rural Zimbabwe into no-go zones at the start of a brutal campaign to return the ageing autocrat to power in the presidential poll in March. Zanu youth brigades and so-called war veterans sealed off country towns, beat up activists from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and, in a new wave of land invasions, hounded out white farmers who support the MDC. In a further act of intimidation, thousands of farmers have this weekend been ordered by police to hand in their legally registered firearms. The strategy is to restrict the MDC to its urban strongholds and terrorise rural areas into backing Mr Mugabe. Even by Zimbabwe's recent violent standards, it has plunged the country into new depths of political brutality.

We followed the trail of terror that party youths have wreaked across Zanu's heartlands north of Harare in recent days. The attacks were conducted as Mr Mugabe promised his fellow southern African leaders at a summit in Malawi that he would end the violence and guarantee free and fair elections. The ringleaders in most incidents, we were told, were products of the notorious Border Gezi youth training camp on which this newspaper reported last week. It now emerges that smaller camps have also been set up in schools and public halls across the north. The government says the camps provide "civic training" for young men. The opposition insists that they teach political terror tactics. Roadblocks are a key weapon. This is how we ran into trouble.

As a mob of about 25 swarmed around our vehicle, I nervously wound down my window a few inches. Amid the chaos, a swaggering man, aged about 20 and wearing a baggy red T-shirt and torn trousers, leant against my door and told me he was in charge. "We are Zanu PF youth," he announced. "Where is your Zanu PF membership card?" My efforts to explain that I was a visitor from Britain were drowned out by his cohorts. Eventually, after showing my passport and convincing them that I did not live in Zimbabwe, the youth responded curtly: "In our country, everyone has to carry a Zanu PF card, even if they are only a visitor. It's the rule." Only when I asked how, if that was the case, I could buy one did he ease off. We would have to return the next day, he explained. Just as we thought we had extricated ourselves, the shouting and chanting started again. "Give the Zanu PF salute," barked another gang member with staring eyes. He clenched his fist and punched the air. We followed suit with a lack of enthusiasm that clearly did not please him. Before he could order us to repeat our performance, however, a pick-up truck carrying a burly white farmer pulled up behind us and the mob turned their attention to a new target. As we drove away, we could see him being made to toyi-toyi (dance and shout Zanu slogans) by the crowd.

Nerve-racking as our experience was on a quiet country road, it was nothing compared with the terror that the youth brigades and "war veterans" have unleashed on MDC supporters in rural towns. In Chinhoyi, 80 miles north-west of Harare, victims of last week's rampages have sought refuge at the party's cramped offices. Ray Mutematsaka, a teacher from the small farming town of Trelawney, had walked for five hours through the night. A gang of youths led by two "war veterans" had burst into his house the previous day, tied him up and beaten him across his back and buttocks. He managed to escape by slipping out through a window after asking to visit the lavatory. "They knew that I am an MDC district secretary, but they still asked me for my Zanu PF card," he said. "The war veterans said I was a traitor and ordered the youths to discipline me. I recognised many of them as my former students. They beat me and said that I should be killed as an example to the others." Similar stories were told at MDC offices in the smaller farming communities of Mutorashanga and Raffingora, which were also attacked and ransacked. Henry Muwungani, 23, had his arm in a sling following the Mutorashanga attack and also said that he feared for his life if he returned. MDC leaders acknowledge that the latest terror offensive will make it impossible for them to campaign in rural areas. They remain positive, however, insisting that the Zanu tactics will backfire. "They are doing our campaigning for us," said Roy Bennett, a senior MDC MP. "We could hardly have been more effective ourselves. They are driving even more voters to us."

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Zimbabwe Warned on Land Pact, Risks EU Sanctions

Reuters


Jan. 21

By Stella Mapenzauswa

HARARE (Reuters) - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo warned on Monday that a deal he brokered last year to stop often violent land grabs in Zimbabwe risked collapse as the worsening crisis heightened concerns among Harare's neighbors.

Obasanjo's warning came as European Union diplomats signaled that Zimbabwe's general willingness to invite foreign observers to the country's presidential election on March 9-10 was insufficient to ward off sanctions.

Obasanjo, on a brief visit to Zimbabwe, made the comments as Zimbabwean police patrolled the streets of the southern city of Bulawayo a day after at least 20 people were injured in clashes involving opponents of President Robert Mugabe.

The violence in Zimbabwe's second city on Sunday was the first major clash this year between Mugabe's supporters and the opposition ahead of the poll in which Mugabe faces the toughest challenge of his 22-year rule.

The growing crisis in Zimbabwe has raised concerns among its neighbors, including South Africa where President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday "the instability has gone on for far too long."

Obasanjo met with Mugabe and opposition politicians to discuss a deal reached in Abuja, Nigeria, in September aimed at ending a crisis spawned by the invasions of white-owned farms over the past two years by pro-government militants.

"Parties to the Abuja Agreement should work toward ensuring that the agreement does not become a dead letter and make it work," state-run radio said in commentary on Obasanjo's remarks.

MEDIA BILL

Nigerian officials said talks with Mugabe also included Zimbabwe's controversial media bill -- expected to be debated in parliament on Tuesday -- which bans foreigners from working as journalists in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe accuses foreign news organizations and the private media in Zimbabwe of backing a campaign by his opponents locally and abroad to topple him in retaliation for the land seizures.

Mugabe promised regional leaders a week ago to hold free and fair presidential elections and allow foreign media and independent poll observers to cover the vote.

Western and some African governments are placing Mugabe and his lieutenants under increasing pressure over the way they are governing Zimbabwe, its human rights record and its introduction of laws seen impeding opposition to its rule.

Diplomatic sources said EU diplomats in Brussels would continue to press until next Monday for detailed, practical commitments from the Zimbabwean government to allow full EU monitoring and free media coverage of the poll.

EU officials were also preparing the ground for a possible assets freeze and visa ban against Mugabe and senior officials, diplomats said.

Mbeki told reporters in Pretoria on Monday: "The levels of poverty and conflict are increasing, and if you add to that a fraudulent election, it has to be avoided."

"The critical challenge is to do whatever needs to be done to make sure you have free and fair elections. We, this region, must do everything to assist the people of Zimbabwe," he said.

Ghana openly criticized its long-standing ally with Foreign Minister Hackman Owusu-Agyyeman accusing the Harare government of passing "oppressive laws."

Zimbabwe's economy is in its fourth straight year of recession, with inflation and unemployment at all-time highs.

The Central Statistics Office said on Monday the consumer price index rose by a record 112.1 percent in the year to December, due to higher prices for food, rent and rates.

State media reported that the government's grain board had impounded more than 36,000 tons of maize from commercial farmers, accusing them of hoarding and that the country was set to receive its first maize imports from South Africa.

LAND DEAL IN JEOPARDY

Farmers and critics say Mugabe has largely ignored the Abuja Agreement to end the land chaos which has left nine white farmers dead, scores of black farm workers assaulted and thousands of others displaced since February 2000.

Under the pact, Harare agreed to end the invasions in return for financial help from former colonial power Britain for a fair and orderly land reform program.

Mugabe, who insists his government is respecting the accord, says some 4,500 white farmers occupy 70 percent of Zimbabwe's best farmland. He wants to seize at least 8.3 million hectares of the 12 million in white hands.

Obasanjo said a report by a United Nations team which visited Zimbabwe in December may help move land reform forward and speed the release of British funds, state radio said.

Obasanjo also met opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who poses a serious challenge to Mugabe in the March polls. An MDC official said Obasanjo told Tsvangirai that Mugabe had promised him he would end the political violence which has heightened ahead of the polls.

Obasanjo's arrival on Sunday was preceded by violence in which thousands of people were teargassed when police and ruling ZANU-PF party militants broke up an MDC rally in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe faces 'smart sanctions' as EU loses patience over human rights
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
22 January 2002
Zimbabwe faced the near certainty of EU sanctions yesterday after failing to give assurances on press freedom, or to say how international observers will be able to monitor the presidential elections.
 
A letter from the Zimbabwean government was dismissed by diplomats as vague and insubstantial, raising the prospect that European foreign ministers will impose targeted sanctions – such as visa bans and a freeze on overseas assets – on senior government figures next Monday.
 
Zimbabwe was given a last chance to avoid confrontation during talks in Brussels 10 days ago. With growing cynicism about its promises, Harare was asked to show how it intends to guarantee press freedom, and to detail a timetable for the invitation of overseas observers. Zimbabwe's parliament is expected to ram through a media Bill today which effectively stamps out the free press.
 
Yesterday's letter, from the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenge, stuck to generalities, arguing that "the government is inviting national, regional and international election observers", and that it "reaffirms its practice of allowing journalists, both national and international, to cover important national events, including elections".
 
Glenys Kinnock, the Labour MEP, described the response as "totally inadequate", adding: "This four-page letter is further evidence that the government of Zimbabwe has no intention of meeting the two most important criteria. They have failed to undertake that violence and intimidation must end, and a time-scale for the entry of election observers should have been clearly given." A diplomat added: "The letter does not have the detail we want, and we will have to consider the next steps, such as smart sanctions."
 
Mr Mudenge's letter also included some of the aggressive rhetoric that marked his speech in Brussels 10 days ago. He argued: "We believe that 'demanding' or 'insisting' on the sending of European Union observers to observe our presidential election is not consistent with the spirit of the Cotonou Agreement [which governs relations between the EU and a bloc of developing nations].
 
There was also an attack on EU countries, including Britain, which Zimbabwe said has "funded opposition parties" in what it described as "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe".
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Daily Mail and Guardian

Hunt for Mugabe’s assets

Commonwealth, European Union and United States officials have begun
investigating the overseas assets of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, his
family and his close associates in readiness for possible sanctions against
the country

DAVID PALLISTER

EU foreign ministers meet on January 28 to decide if Mugabe genuinely
intends to hold free and fair elections in March, with international
observers present, and whether he has made efforts to curb violence by his
supporters.
In October the EU invoked article 96 of the Cotonou agreement governing
relations with African states, which allows for sanctions if a range of
issues such as human rights and good governance are not addressed.

The US Congress has already agreed to consult its international partners
about a collective response to the Zimbabwean crisis.

But the tracking of assets salted away by the president and his political
friends will not be easy, as Mugabe himself has managed to avoid the
scandals that have swirled around some of his ministers, top civil servants
and generals.

Yet the Mugabes have been able to acquire a string a properties in the
country, including a new $10-million mansion in a quiet Harare suburb.

Mugabe has acknowledged corruption in his Cabinet. In 1999 he told
ministers: “I know they [international contractors] are buying you for
tenders and that some of you are accepting huge bribes.”

The Zimbabwean magazine Legal Forum has described the country as a
“racketeering state” characterised by minimal economic development,
stagnation leading to recession and unbridled greed by the ruling elite.

But unlike the crude daylight robbery of Sani Abacha and his circle in
Nigeria, the money trail left by Mugabe’s associates is likely to be
sophisticated.

Reports of the personal enrichment of Mugabe’s associates and close
relations have been legion, particularly after the military intervention in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, where secretive joint ventures were set up
to exploit the vast resources of diamonds and minerals.

Mugabe’s own extravagance, and that of his wife Grace, has caused a national
outcry.

In the 1990s Mugabe was Africa’s most-travelled president. According to an
investigation by the Zimbabwe Independent business weekly, he spent
$250-million in the decade on fuel alone for commandeered Air Zimbabwe
planes to fly to more than 150 countries.

His party, Zanu-PF, is also an international business empire with a vast
array of interests held through part ownership of a company called Zidco
Holdings. Set up shortly after independence, Zidco has stakes in numerous
aspect of the Zimbabwean economy, from property and duty-free shops to
building materials and army supplies.

Run by a Southern African family originally from Malaysia, its assets and
profits are a secret, guarded by two key Mugabe allies on the board: the
former justice and security ministers Emmerson Mnangagwa and Sidney
Sekeramayi.

A few years ago Mugabe whimsically told a journalist that if he ever found
himself out of a job (his presidential salary is about $24 000 a year), he
could go back to teaching and his wife could earn a crust by sewing.

But investigators are expecting to find rather more substantial assets.
Among the pleasures of life for the Mugabes have been their regular shopping
expeditions to London.

If sanctions bite, the couple may find that their credit line this spring is
considerably diminished.


More than 100 failed asylum seekers who face expulsion from Britain to
Zimbabwe were this week given a temporary reprieve by the British Home
Secretary, David Blunkett, who postponed their deportation until after
Zimbabwe’s elections.


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AFRICA DEFENCE JOURNAL's - SITUATION REPORTS IN BRIEF >>>>>>
   ===========================================================
          SITREPS No.2 covers period: 12-18 January 2002

                    ==== IN THE HEADLINES ====


ZIMBABWE: Asset Transfers Noted
The Financial Times reported that Washington believes senior military
and political leaders in Zimbabwe are moving substantial volumes of
capital to tax havens in Europe and the United States, noting an
increase of such transfers in recent months. The Africa committee of
the US House of Representatives chairman, Ed Royce, said recently in
South Africa, "Assets are being transferred out of  Zimbabwe by close
allies, military officers close to President Mugabe."  Mugabe's
spokesman, George Charamba, dismissed the press speculation as British
and American "propaganda". (12-18 January 2002)
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ZIMBABWE: Obasanjo visits on peace mission

JOHANNESBURG, 21 January (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo was tense on Monday, but there was no repeat of the political clashes and running street battles that led to 39 arrests the day before.

A journalist in the city told IRIN that the police had denied reports that four people had died in the violence on Sunday between ruling ZANU-PF party militants and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters. News reports said 20 people were wounded. There was no independent confirmation of an MDC statement that 14 of its members were missing. According to the journalist, the police said that all of the 39 people arrested belonged to the MDC.

The violence broke out when some 150 ZANU-PF militants occupied the stadium venue of an MDC rally and denied the opposition party access. The police were called to the scene, but asked the MDC supporters to disperse, the journalist said. As stone throwing broke out between the rival supporters, the police fired teargas at the MDC crowd which responded with more stones. Running street battles with the police continued into the city's high density suburbs.

IRIN was unable to get comment from government officials.

The violence in Bulawayo, a city regarded as staunchly anti-ZANU-PF, came as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Zimbabwe on a peace mission ahead of presidential elections in March. Obasanjo, who brokered the so-called Abuja Agreement on land reform between Zimbabwe and former colonial power Britain last year, held talks with President Robert Mugabe early on Monday and said progress on the agreement was slow, AFP reported.

He also held talks with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe told IRIN. "He assured us that Mugabe was saying he will now stop the violence. Mr Tsvangirai pointed out that the very day he was being assured the political campaign would be free and fair, we were being stopped from campaigning in Bulawayo," Jongwe said.

Obasanjo's message that Mugabe was sincere, was similar to the one broadcast by southern African leaders earlier this month at a summit in Blantyre, Malawi. "Obviously that's the tragedy being faced by the people of Zimbabwe," Jongwe said. "It's not the MDC that is being isolated but the people of Zimbabwe."

Meanwhile, the Spanish news agency EFE reported on Monday that Zimbabwe, apparently bowing to European Union (EU) demands, had confirmed that it would invite international observers to oversee the 9-10 March elections. The confirmation came in a letter to Foreign Minister Josep Pique of Spain, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, from Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge.

"I can confirm that the government is inviting regional and international observers, including those from the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) nations and the EU, as well as from regional and international organisations such as the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations," EFE reported the letter as saying. It also agreed to allow international journalists to cover the elections.

The letter followed Zimbabwe "consultations" with the EU on 11 January at which Brussels asked for written confirmation that the EU's concerns over international observers and media freedom would be addressed. What remains to be seen is whether Mudenge's response is deemed satisfactory by the Council of Ministers due to meet on 28 January.

Failure by Zimbabwe to deliver a "solution acceptable to both parties" under the terms of the Cotonou agreement between the ACP and EU, would lead to "appropriate measures being taken" - which has widely been interpreted as sanctions.

"Smart sanctions" - targeting Mugabe and Zimbabwe's political elite - have been touted as a possible response by the EU and other Western governments concerned with the country's mounting political violence and reported human rights violations.

"The overwhelming objective would be to isolate Mugabe from those that surround him," foreign affairs specialist John Stremlau at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand told IRIN. The measures would include travel bans and financial pressure. "They would be reminding the elite that they are increasingly becoming isolated and pariahs ... encouraging them to cut loose from the present regime."

Although acknowledging the difficulties of effectively targeting sanctions, "the war on terrorism has given enormous impetus for governments to cooperate more to go after the bad guys", Stremlau said. Internationally isolated Zimbabwe would be a "good target" for sanctions because of the likelihood of a Western consensus on action, and its relatively weak position.
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MSNBC

S.Africa's Mbeki vows help for fair Zimbabwe vote

PRETORIA, Jan. 21 — South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday that
southern African leaders must do all they could to help the people of
Zimbabwe ensure their presidential election in March was free and fair.

       ''The instability has gone on for far too long. The levels of poverty
and conflict are increasing, and if you add to that a fraudulent election,
it has to be avoided,'' Mbeki told journalists after talks with German
President Johannes Rau.
       ''The critical challenge is to do whatever needs to be done to make
sure you have free and fair elections. We, this region, must do everything
to assist the people of Zimbabwe,'' he said.
       He did not elaborate on what the region would do, but called for
peace ahead of the March 9-10 election in South Africa's northern neighbour.
       Rau, on a four-day visit to South Africa, said conflict-torn Zimbabwe
had topped his talks with Mbeki, and expressed his concern at the lack of
regard in Zimbabwe for individual rights and the rule of law.
       ''They are very much threatened, and I think that in itself poses a
threat to the African continent as a whole,'' he said.
       Zimbabwe is in a deep political and economic crisis, and President
Robert Mugabe, its leader since independence from Britain 22 years ago, is
trying to win re-election.
       Human rights monitors accuse Mugabe of condoning violence and of
using the police, army and the judiciary to ensure victory.
       On Sunday the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said 20
people were injured and thousands teargassed as police and militants from
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party broke up a rally organised by the MDC in the
city of Bulawayo.
       Police denied attacking the party, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai is
challenging Mugabe in the March elections, and said they had intervened only
to break up fighting between rival groups.
       Mugabe promised African leaders at a special summit in Blantyre,
Malawi, last week that he would reverse his earlier decision to ban foreign
observers and journalists from the country during the election campaign and
the vote itself.

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