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----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Yarl <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, June 13, 2008 2:38 pm
Subject: Zimbabwe Leader Warns of Violence...
To: [log in to unmask]
> **********************************************************
>
> 10TH AFRICAN FEST ANNIVERSARY
>
> SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008
>
> VOLUNTEER FOR AAM'S UBUNTU MENTORING PROGRAM
>
> CONTACT "[log in to unmask]" FOR MORE INFO
>
> RENEW YOUR AAM MEMBERSHIP FOR $25!!!!
>
> MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
>
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>
> : Yahoo News Zimbabwe leader warns of violence if he loses vote
> June 13, 2008 51 minutes ago
> HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe said Friday that his
> supporters are ready to fight if the opposition wins an upcoming
> presidential runoff election, hardening the rhetoric of a campaign
> that already has seen widespread violence against government
> opponents.
> "I'm even prepared to join the fight," the 84-year-old Mugabe told a
> conference of his party's youth wing.
> Mugabe said the veterans of the war of independence in 1980 had
> approached him after the first round of voting in March and threatened
> to take up arms again if opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai wins the
> June 27 runoff.
> Tsvangirai finished first in a field of four in the first round but
> failed to win the majority needed to avoid a runoff.
> "We can't allow the British to dominate us through their puppets,"
> said Mugabe, returning to a campaign theme of portraying Tsvangirai as
> a pawn of Western powers, a charge the opposition denies. "A vote for
> the (opposition) is a vote for the British to have once again not just
> a foothold but real power."
> A High Court judge, meanwhile, ordered police to bring No. 2
> opposition leader Tendai Biti to court Saturday and explain why he
> should not be immediately released, according to opposition lawyer
> Selby Hwacha.
> Biti was arrested Thursday upon returning to Zimbabwe from
> neighboring South Africa. The United States was among the governments
> that said the arrest of the top aide to Tsvangirai only deepened
> concerns the runoff would not be free and fair.
> Since picking up Biti at the airport Thursday, police have refused to
> say where he was being held or when they might bring him to court.
> They have said he faces a charge of treason, which can carry the death
> penalty.
> Tsvangirai, speaking on the campaign trail Friday, called the charge
> Biti faces "frivolous."
> "Tendai has not committed any crime, he has not committed any offense
> to warrant the arrest," the candidate said.
> The party said Tsvangirai himself was released overnight after being
> detained by police.
> Tsvangirai was stopped twice by police as he tried to campaign
> Thursday, according to the party, which said he was held for about two
> hours the first time and late into the night the second time before
> being released. Such incidents have become common as Tsvangirai
> attempts to reach out to voters, and the opposition says 66 of its
> supporters have been killed.
> In 2004, Tsvangirai was acquitted after a treason trial that lasted
> more than a year.
> Botswana, a fellow member of the Southern African Development
> Community, was the first neighbor to condemn Biti's arrest. Its
> Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the Zimbabwean
> ambassador to express its concern.
> "Botswana is alarmed by these arrests and detentions as they disrupt
> electoral activities of key players and intimidate the electorate thus
> undermining the process of holding a free, fair and democratic
> election," said Clifford Maribe, ministry spokesman.
> It was unusually strong language from a fellow African government.
> Zimbabwe's neighbors, particularly regional power South Africa, have
> for the most part refused to confront Mugabe.
> The arrest of Biti and police harassment of Tsvangirai are the latest
> examples of efforts by Mugabe's government to defeat the opposition.
> The harassment has included using security forces to confiscate a
> large U.S. food donation and giving it to Mugabe supporters in a
> country where many people are poor.
> The United States, long a sharp critic of Mugabe, said Thursday that
> whatever pressure the neighbors had so far brought to bear had been
> ineffective. It called for immediate action by the U.N. Security
> Council.
> News emerged that a 20-ton shipment of U.S.-donated grain, beans and
> oil being sent to a school in eastern Zimbabwe was hijacked by
> security forces and then passed out to Mugabe backers at a rally last
> week.
> In Washington, officials said the United States, which now holds the
> rotating presidency of the Security Council, would try to raise the
> Zimbabwe issue next week.
> U.S. Ambassador James McGee said Friday the clampdown on aid work has
> left some people surviving on less than one meal a day.
> "The situation right now is bad and it's continuing to get worse,"
> McGee told reporters in a conference call from Harare, Zimbabwe's
> capital. "If this continues much beyond the elections, it will be
> disastrous for Zimbabwe."
> Aid group World Vision, which has projects across the country,
> appealed to the government Friday to allow delivery of basic
> humanitarian assistance by reversing the suspension.
> "As a child-focused organization, we are particularly concerned for
> the close to 400,000 children we would have assisted this month
> through school-feeding and our ongoing development work," said Wilfred
> Mlay, vice president for Africa for World Vision. "We hold grave
> concerns for the 1.6 million orphans and vulnerable children across
> the country who will now not receive critical assistance from
> humanitarian agencies operating in the country."
> World Vision said the suspension was keeping more than 30 groups from
> delivering food and other aid. It said up to 4 million people are in
> need of aid.
>
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