Printer friendly versionZimbabwe's opposition perpetrating terrorist attacks
Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2007
Mugabe accuses MDC of terror
news24.com
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has accused the opposition party of perpetrating terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in a bid to oust his government, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Mugabe, 83, has defiantly rejected a torrent of international condemnation following the beating of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and a number of his colleagues last week.
He says the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is a violent party sponsored by former colonial power Britain and other Western allies.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark International Women's Day in the capital Harare on Saturday, Mugabe said the authorities would brook no more lawless behaviour from the MDC.
"We have given too much room to mischief-makers and shameless stooges of the West," Mugabe was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mail.
"Scores of innocent people going about their legitimate business have fallen prey to terrorist attacks that are part of the desperate and illegal plot to unconstitutionally change the government of the country," he added.
He was addressing government ministers, MPs, religious groups and NGOs at a belated ceremony to mark International Women's Day under the theme: Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women.
www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,9294,2-11-1662_2085397,00.html
Email: zimbabwecrisis@yahoo.com
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All the Signs of US/European Govt Interference in Zimbabwe
Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2007
Robert Mugabe: A Servant Not Knowing His Place
By K. Elford
Posted: March 17, 2007
How do we know that the U.S. and Europe are behind the efforts to overthrow President Robert Mugabe?
According to William Blum: "Same way we know that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. That's what it's always done and there's no reason to think that tomorrow morning will be any different."
What is going on in Zimbabwe that has brought the western media out in full force? The stories being bandied about and manipulated by the media seem to be focusing on some claims of abuse to Morgan Tsvangirai. According to articles in the media, the opposition party MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai has been operating to take down the current government of Zimbabwe for some time. As far back as 2000, Tsvangirai was threatening violence against Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe. These are calculated activities taking place in Zimbabwe on an ongoing basis.
It is reported in the media that Tsvangirai's MDC faction had already made a pledge to organize mass civil disobedience for some time. Other opposition groups, who have ties to the Christian Alliance that spearheads the Save Zimbabwe Campaign with the same agenda - to stop the land seizures being implemented and to remove President Robert Mugabe's government - have been staging protests relentlessly (Save Zimbabwe Campaign's Effectiveness and Viability In Question 30 November 2006).
Why all the attention on this particular protest? It can be argued that the excessive media attention is focusing on the opposition leader being injured in what appears to be a violent confrontation with the police. But this is not what we are getting via the media reports that have already declared human rights abuses at the hands of the government. Protests staged in any country often invite violence to later claim suppression and brutalization. Rarely do these worldwide protests receive the amount of media attention glaring on this recent protest in Zimbabwe except when there is a U.S./European backed attempt at 'regime change' in a country.
The bottom line on this sudden intensification of interest in the internal affairs of Zimbabwe by western governments and media is in opposition to the White settlers losing the stolen land they once occupied. They intend to punish Mugabe for daring to redress this grave injustice. The United States, Britain, White settlers and organizations formed for the purpose of giving the impression of widespread organized opposition to Robert Mugabe are willing to do whatever it takes to maintain White settler (European) domination in Zimbabwe.
The media frenzy involving Zimbabwe goes back to the land seizures from White settlers.
The United States and Britain try to cover all their bases as they try to destabilize more targets sighted in their longstanding agenda of world dominance. They do manage to find some unusual bedfellows as accomplices. These deceptions are too common these days to be believable. It would be nice if those making the loudest condemnations against the Zimbabwe government could see these events for what they are. I rather suspect many are simply being paid to make noise. Most of the reports in the western media are saying the same things with the same tone which demonstrates a U.S./European concentrated effort to force the Zimbabwe government from office.
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Lack of Support for Zimbabwe's Land Reform is Africa's Shame
Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2007
By Ayinde
rastafaritimes@yahoo.com
March 17, 2007
It appears that Desmond Tutu, among others, have bought the stories of what transpired in Zimbabwe from Morgan Tsvangirai and the Western media, all of whom are against President Mugabe's land reclamation exercise. How else can one explain Tutu's strong condemnation of Zimbabwe's government?
There is evidence that the clash between Morgan Tsvangirai, together with his small band of supporters and the police was orchestrated by Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai has been trying to position himself centre stage, despite his defeat at the 2005 polls. He and his cohorts provoked a violent confrontation with the police, then cried abuse. This incident was staged. Little is being said about the police officers that were beaten by this small band of protesters. BBC's Eyewitness account of what transpired shows how youths are being coerced to wreak havoc on the country.
President Mugabe's government delayed Zimbabwe's land reform program so that Zimbabwe's liberation struggle would not overshadow negotiations for South Africa's liberation. In the article 'Zimbabwe land reform waited for SA' (28/07/2005) President Thabo Mbeki stated:
"The Zimbabwe government delayed its land-reform programme so that negotiations for South Africa's liberation succeeded, said President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday.
"They slowed down to get the negotiations in this country to succeed," said Mbeki as he arrived at the land summit without prior notification.
He said that when South Africa was negotiating its transition to democracy, around the time which Zimbabwe had started its land reform programme, the Organisation of African Unity had asked Zimbabwe to stop the programme as it would 'frighten the apartheid government in South Africa.'"
Zimbabwe under President Mugabe sacrificed much to assist the struggle in South Africa. It is only fitting that South Africa assist Zimbabwe in dealing with outside interferences from the U.S. and Europe in their attempts to prevent the ongoing effort to reclaim lands from the White settlers.
Land is one of the main issues in Zimbabwe's liberation struggle. A return of the land that was stolen should be the primary concern for all African nations in the liberation struggle.
Shame on any African nation that calls itself free when the best agricultural lands remain in the hands of White settlers. Is it not a shame that a rich continent feels dependant on these former colonial countries? It is a colonial mindset that maintains the fallacy that Africans cannot take care of their own affairs and must have White overlords in order to progress.
One of the legacies of colonialism is the dependency syndrome that developed. The worst of it comes from those who hold on to these colonial institutions and their pompous titles.
Where is Desmond Tutu's condemnation of the illegal U.S./Ethiopian invasion of Somalia? It seems he has no problem with 'truth and reconciliation' for letting Whites off the hook - the same Whites in and out of South Africa who are responsible for the deaths of countless Africans. His vilest comments should be reserved for George Bush, Tony Blair and others who are responsible for countless genocidal murders along with a multitude of crimes against humanity.
It should be obvious to all that the U.S., Britain and their lacquey Morgan Tsvangirai have no respect for the rule of law and democracy in Zimbabwe. Having failed at the ballot, they are trying to force the democratically elected government in Zimbabwe out of office.
Zimbabweans and their government should never cave into the U.S., British and White settlers' plan to destabilize the country. The Zimbabwe government should not allow the minority opposition forces in the country or abroad to chaotically run rampant in order to make the country ungovernable.
Africans the world over should be firm in demanding that lands in Africa be returned to the Africans they were taken from and that proper monetary compensation be paid. Africans should never allow the U.S. and Europe to choose our friends and enemies for us. We should not allow the enticement of economic aid and trade to be used as a weapon against other Africans.
Shame on all who have allowed the U.S. and Europe to get away with genocide. Shame on those not willing to stand for the completion of the Liberation struggle.
Reconciliation is a farce! The truth is there can be no reconciliation without justice.
Also Read:
U.S. and Britain are Fueling Violence in Zimbabwe
By Ayinde
Zimbabwe: White Lies, Black Victims
By Rosemary Ekosso
Zimbabwe Under Siege
By Gregory Elich
Visit Zimbabwe Watch:
www.raceandhistory.com/Zimbabwe
Email: zimbabwecrisis@yahoo.com
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President Mugabe Accuses EU Of Meddling ...
Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2007
HARARE, March 16 (Bernama) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Thursday hit out at Europe for continuing to meddle in the politics of the country, saying government does not accept the West's criticism of its reaction to the spate of violence being unleashed by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters.
Speaking to reporters just before meeting his Tanzanian counterpart, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, at State House to discuss various issues, including the volatile political situation prevailing in the country, the President accused the West of practicing double standards when dealing with political issues in Zimbabwe.
"Here groups of people were let out of the way to effect a campaign of violence and there was no criticism at all. None of these Missions have said a word in regard to that campaign and now when they criticise the government that is trying to prevent violence and punish the perpetrators of that violence, then we take the position that they can go hang," Zimbabwe's New Ziana news agency quoted Mugabe as saying, in reference to unconditional statements of support to the MDC by a number of western governments, including those of Britain, America and New Zealand.
Mugabe said his government does not brook any foreign interference in the politics of the country.
Full Article : bernama.com.my
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Zim rejects conditional invitation to summit
Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2007
Zimbabwe has declined an invitation to the 24th France-Africa Summit that starts in Cannes, France, today because of certain conditions tied to it. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Zimbabwe had initially not been invited and had rejected attempts to extend a conditional invitation. "The Ministry wishes to state that Zimbabwe was not invited to the Summit. However, enquiries were made as to whether the Government of Zimbabwe would accept an invitation with certain conditions attached to it. The Government of Zimbabwe indicated that it would not accept such an invitation," Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ms Charity Nzenza said. The Herald understands that the French government dispatched former Mozambican President Mr Joaquim Chissano to Harare towards the end of to last year with Zimbabwe’s invitation and to inform President Mugabe of the conditions attached to the invitation. Diplomatic sources said the invitation was pleading with President Mugabe to decline to attend and delegate either one of the Vice Presidents or the Foreign Minister.
Full Article : actsa.org
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Zimbabwe: Deal decisively with security threat
Posted: Friday, March 16, 2007
By David Samuriwo, www.herald.co.zw
March 16, 2007
ON Monday, I attended a Press conference at Harvest House addressed by Thokozani Khupe, the vice president of the MDC Tsvangirai faction.
A few Zimbabwean journalists, Western diplomats and mostly foreign stringers disguised as diplomats attended the Press conference.
According to Khupe, the "chilling reality was that the police were now using live ammunition on innocent unarmed people, as a result, a well-known MDC activist -- Gift Tandare -- became a victim of police heavy handedness" when he was gunned down near Mhizha Primary School in Highfield.
According to sources, Tandare, who was the MDC Tsvangirai Glen View district youth chairman and a member of the security committee, was the ringleader of the assailants. A few years ago, he was also implicated in the burning of a Zupco bus in Glen View.
Khupe's version of events was totally different from what really transpired on that fateful Sunday afternoon, when a group of police officers, making their way towards Kutsanana Bar in Highfield, came under heavy attack from MDC youths.
The youths were pelting the officers with stones and also firing round metal bolts from catapults. Above all, they were armed with an assortment of teargas canisters which they threw at the police officers.
They were being ordered to advance and disarm the police officers. With my own ears, I heard the officers fire at least nineteen rounds of live ammunition, but this did not deter the youths who kept advancing towards the cornered policemen.
Left with no other choice, I saw one officer take aim and fire, Tandare fell down. The rest of the group immediately retreated and fled the scene.
Sensing danger, I drove home to Kuwadzana only to be confronted by another group of rowdy MDC youths who demanded that I ferry them to Kuwadzana Police Station in my Mazda B16 pick-up truck.
A neighbour who recognised me pleaded with the youth to let me go. They eventually did, but after breaking my front windscreen for no apparent reason.
I also saw a senior member of the MDC Tsvangirai faction, who is the former president of an income generating project that masqueraded as a political grouping, dolling out money to a group of about 100 MDC youths, part of the group that had damaged my car.
This group then made its way towards Kuwadzana Police Station where they threw teargas canisters. The police reacted by firing warning shots in the air and the attackers immediately dispersed.
This same group proceeded to the Kuwadzana/Bulawayo Roundabout where they stopped and overturned a commuter omnibus.
A few minutes later, another Kombi presumably from Botswana, judging from the luggage, was stopped and the occupants forced out. Their luggage was searched and anything of value looted.
The youths then doused the Kombi with petrol, and torched it, reducing it to a shell.
Six other private vehicles were stoned, while a Peugeot 404 was overturned.
It boggles the mind to fathom how a "small prayer" meeting ostensibly organised under the banner of non-violence, freedom of association and democracy could suddenly turn out to be an orgy of violence, looting and arson. The benefit of doubt could have been given if the violence took place in Highfield alone where the prayer meeting was supposed to be held.
That the violence simultaneously took place in different locations does not only suggest a well co-ordinated plan of civil disobedience, but points to well-planned acts of violence calculated to make the country ungovernable.
Sun Tzu, a Chinese military strategist who lived about 2500 years ago, saying that "all warfare is based on deception" is still plausible to this day. His critics were also right. They said deception could only be successful if the enemy is unaware of that deception.
Khupe cannot fool everyone by stating that a prayer meeting does not require police clearance under the Public Order and Security Act.
Sunday's orgy of violence and looting was definitely not a prayer meeting. The deception theory dismally failed here.
Khupe's assertion that the MDC remains unwavering in its commitment to bring peaceful change flies in the face of events that occurred on that Sunday and subsequently.
According to Khupe, Morgan Tsvangirai and fellow faction leader Arthur Mutambara were arrested while on their way to attend a Save Zimbabwe prayer meeting organised by the Christian Alliance of Zimbabwe.
Perhaps it is prudent for Khupe and her sidekicks to re-strategise.
Except for fly-by-night journalists, local journalists are aware that the Christian Alliance, Save Zimbabwe Campaign, both factions of the MDC, Lovemore Madhuku's NCA, Zinasu and a host of other such organisations are being fed from the same trough.
The American Embassy, through its Ambassador, Christopher Dell recently released funds to support the violent campaign.
Security forces have a duty to guard against any usurpation of the country's Constitution. Paid demonstrators will remain just that. They can never be genuine because they lack conviction in whatever they demonstrate against.
In essence, they will remain hired hands. If at all, the MDC has the support it claims to have why does it resort to paying its supporters to take to the streets?
Last Sunday's orgy of violence is a typical revelation how a country's constitution can be manipulated by paid hooligans.
The dolling out of cash at Kuwadzana by a senior official of the MDC said it all.
The much publicised report by the International Crisis Group made very interesting revelations.
It calls for increased funding for training and other capacity building assistance to all democratic forces in Zimbabwe.
This has been going on for quite some time even before this announcement. Capacity building funds have seen the MDC establish a core group of violent youth militias they call Democratic Resistance Committees.
On Wednesday, a cell of the democratic resistance committees attacked a house, in military precision, at Marimba Police station seriously injuring three police officers.
American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, gleefully views all this violence as Government orchestrated yet it is precisely her government that is funding the MDC to foment anarchy in this country.
Constables Pretty Mushonga, Busani Moyo and Brenda Makamba are now at Parirenyatwa Hospital disfigured by the attack that can at best be described as a military style operation carried out by paid MDC thugs.
Also, in a military style attack, Nehanda Police post in Mkoba 16, Gweru was attacked with petrol bombs and teargas canisters almost at the same time as the attack at Marimba.
Zimbabwe's neighbours must be told loud and clear that the violence Zimbabwe is currently experiencing is a direct result of enormous funding, especially from the American Embassy, to the so-called MDC DRCs.
As such, the Government will not fold its arms while these elements, akin to the then rebel Renamo, and Unita movements of Mozambique, and Angola terrorise the nation.
It is obvious that the consequences of such action are too ghastly to contemplate.
Already Gift Tandare has lost his life; Constables Moyo, and Mushonga, and to a certain extent Makamba seriously injured, and probably disfigured.
How many more innocent Zimbabwean lives are still to be lost through actions of foreign governments bent on imposing their will on Zimbabwe?
I had a belief a long time ago and do still believe that without outside interference Zimbabwe could have solved its problems many seasons ago. It is only concerted interference by the US government and its allies in the European Union that has worsened things.
The bottom line is, law enforcement agencies should respond to this national security threat in an appropriate and deterrent manner.
Any threats, intimidation or noise from powerful, guilty Western nations should be dismissed and ignored with the contempt they deserve.
Reprinted from:
www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=16410&cat=10
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Zimbabwe: Go hang, President tells West
Posted: Friday, March 16, 2007
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday told Western countries criticising the Government for dealing with violent opposition MDC members to "go hang".
He said the West was condemning the Government for punishing perpetrators of violence but ignoring the violent acts of the opposition, which have left a trail of destruction and seriously injured policewomen and men.
"When they criticise Government when it tries to prevent violence and punish perpetrators of that violence, we take the position that they can go hang," said President Mugabe.
He was responding to questions from journalists at State House after holding talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
"This is the West, which has always supported the opposition here and elsewhere. We do not accept their criticism at all.
"Here are groups of persons who went out of their way to effect a campaign of violence.
"We hear no criticism of this campaign from Western governments. None of these (Western) missions here have said a word against that campaign of violence," said Cde Mugabe.
Full Article : herald.co.zw
Here is a link to the Guardian UK's article 'Zimbabwe president defiant but violence may be turning African leaders against him' that shows the divide and rule game the West in playing with African nations is working. The Guardian UK like other Western media has always been hostile to the efforts to reclaim lands from White settlers in Zimbabwe. - Ayinde
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U.S. and Britain are Fueling Violence in Zimbabwe
Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2007
The latest negative media blitz on Zimbabwe manipulates what appear to be injuries sustained by Morgan Tsvangirai following a clash he had with the police after taking part in an MDC organized protest.
Morgan Tsvangirai, in alliance with Britain and the White settlers, regularly calls on the international community to impose comprehensive sanctions against the Zimbabwe government and President Robert Mugabe.
Morgan Tsvangirai is the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - one of the opposition parties in Zimbabwe that lost in Zimbabwe's 2005 Parliamentary Elections.
Full Article : africaspeaks.com
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Mugabe opponent in intensive care after arrest
Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Mugabe opponent in intensive care after arrest
The Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was being treated in intensive care today for wounds apparently sustained while in police custody, his spokesman said.
The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change was taken to hospital yesterday after spending two days in custody following his arrest at an anti-government demonstration at the weekend.
His appearance in court yesterday with a deep head wound, swollen face and a limp prompted international condemnation amid accusations that he had been tortured by police.
Full Article : guardian.co.uk
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Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai sent to hospital
Posted: Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Injured Tsvangirai taken to hospital
guardian.co.uk
Zimbabwean opposition leader sent for hospital tests after appearing in court with deep head wound from what activists say was attempt by police to kill him.
Zimbabwe: State Warns MDC Against Lawlessness
The Herald (Harare)
March 13, 2007
THE Government has warned the MDC against engaging in violent activities, saying it will not fold its arms and watch the opposition unleash lawlessness.
Minister of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi said it was the duty of the regulating authority (police) in a given area to impose a ban on all politically-related demonstrations and rallies if they had reasonable grounds to suspect the gatherings might disturb peace.
The minister said this at a Press conference last night flanked by his deputy Cde Obert Matshalaga and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri.
The regulatory authorities -- who are Officers Commanding Districts -- have the power to issue the ban without consulting the police commissioner or even the minister.
The powers are given to them under Section 27 of the Public Order and Security Act.
But if those whose activities are banned have a grievance, they can appeal to the minister who could vary, uphold or set aside such an order.
Cde Mohadi said following the ban on rallies in Harare and Chitungwiza by police last month, the MDC appealed to him on March 8, 2007 through their lawyers.
He said he responded to them and set March 17 as the date on which he would consider their appeal.
But POSA clearly stated that noting an appeal did not suspend the order of a regulatory authority, the minister said.
"This order was still standing and they decided to go ahead and convene the meeting disregarding the standing order given," said Cde Mohadi.
Cde Mohadi said last weekend's planned gathering was not a prayer meeting as the opposition had claimed under the so-called Save Zimbabwe Campaign co-ordinated by the MDC's purported Democratic Resistance Committees (DRC) and other anti-Government civic organisations.
"It was not a prayer meeting because there are flyers which said it was an MDC defiance campaign and they were coercing people to attend the rally," said Cde Mohadi.
"As police, we could not just stand by and see the country go on fire. So we deployed and managed to quell the disturbances. The leaders of the opposition (Morgan) Tsvangirai and (Arthur) Mutambara were actually commanding (hooligans) using children as shields.
The flyers read: "Save Zimbabwe Rally. MDC Defiance Campaign. MDC joins other democratic forces under the auspices of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign for the rally to be held on 11 March 2007 at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, starting at 10am. 'It is defiance or death'."
Spokesperson of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign Jacob Mafume told reporters at a Press conference yesterday that they would continue to defy the law.
"We are not going to stop," he said.
But Cde Mohadi said they were just provoking a situation whose consequences they would regret.
"We are not going to be found wanting. We will enforce the law to its fullest. We expect people to adhere to the law."
He dismissed claims that police were in defiance of any court order, saying no member of the police force was served with the High Court order giving the green-light for the MDC to hold a rally at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield two weeks ago.
He said the arrested persons were in custody pending finalisation of investigations.
The minister took a swipe at Commonwealth Secretary General Mr Don McKinnon, saying he had no right to comment about Zimbabwe as it had long ceased to be a member of the grouping of mostly former British colonies.
"What has he got to do with Zimbabwe? We are not a member of the Commonwealth. We long moved out of the Commonwealth. We are not interfering with the Commonwealth."
Mr McKinnon was quoted on the BBC saying they had tried everything on Zimbabwe and did not know whether they should send a batallion.
The Herald is reliably informed that late yesterday afternoon the ambassadors of Germany, Britain and Sweden came unannounced to see Cde Chihuri at Police General Headquarters. They were turned away because they did not notify the police of their visit and were not even accompanied by an officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as per diplomatic procedures.
It is believed they panicked over the unearthing of the plans they had mooted with the MDC. Cde Mohadi said the agenda of the MDC was regime change and they were paying youths to engage in violence.
"Although I have not got confirmation from the Police Commissioner, it would appear the report is credible. Government expects ambassadors to be procedural in their interface with Government and all diplomatic routes must be channelled through the Foreign Ministry," said Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde George Charamba.
MDC faction leaders Tsvangirai and Mutambara were arrested together with faction secretary general Tendai Biti, secretary for information and publicity Nelson Chamisa, his deputy Grace Kwinjeh, secretary for policy and research Sekai Holland and Job Sikhala, who is aligned to the Mutambara faction.
National Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku was also arrested together with several other suspects, who are also in police custody.
The opposition and civic leaders were arrested in Highfield for allegedly going around inciting the people to engage in violent acts.
Police chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the eight were still in custody and were expected to appear in court soon.
"We are still detaining them with a view to preferring charges of public violence and instigating public violence," Asst Comm Bvudzijena said.
He said no arrests were made as of yesterday but investigations were continuing.
"We are still investigating the case and we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to protect the public and to maintain law and order," Asst Comm Bvudzijena said.
He indicated that the police would screen and release those exonerated.
The opposition supporters, under the so-called Save Zimbabwe Campaign, had running battles with the police on Sunday which left one person dead and property worth millions of dollars destroyed.
Yesterday afternoon, diplomats from European Union countries accredited to Zimbabwe thronged at Harvest House, the Tsvangirai MDC faction's headquarters, to show their solidarity with the arrested opposition leaders.
Sources within the opposition said the faction's deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe, who is the acting party leader, addressed ambassadors from Western countries.
More than 20 vehicles with diplomatic registration numbers were parked along Nelson Mandela Avenue, almost causing a traffic jam as the diplomats came to get a briefing from the opposition officials.
In Highfield, business resumed and traders were operating normally at Machipisa and Gazaland shopping centres which were virtual war zones at the weekend as MDC supporters clashed with the police.
Police still maintained some presence in the suburb keeping vigil of the situation.
At Machipisa Police Station, Tsvangirai's Mercedes Benz, Chamisa's Nissan twin cab and Madhuku's Peugeot 306 could be seen parked within the grounds.
A police officer armed with a rifle was manning the gate at the police station.
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=16285&cat=1
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Zimbabwe: America's Version of Democracy a Sham
Posted: Tuesday, March 6, 2007
By Reason Wafawarova
The Herald (Harare)
March 6, 2007
IT is very interesting to follow the trend of U.S. hegemony as it rose from 1945, the time its cousin authority, the British Empire was collapsing.
U.S. hegemony has grown to what it is at the expense of weaker nations and driven by the strategy of exploiting stand-for-nothing governments and non-state actors.
As Antonio Gramsci says, a crisis arises when something starts being born in a place occupied by something that has not finished dying.
As the British colonial empires began to collapse in the 1950s and the U.S. capitalist global hegemony was being born there was a crisis emerging as the former British, French and Portuguese colonies embraced the socialist and communist ideology ahead of the U.S-led capitalist agenda.
The crisis of the dying British Empire and the emerging U.S. Empire became what we now commonly know as the Cold War.
This was a crisis characterised by the Mutually Agreed Destruction; absolute dirty games in the intelligence world, the rising of U.S./British sponsored dictators in Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as the notorious proxy wars. The club of sponsored dictators included Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda's Idi Amin, Chile's Augustino Pinochet, Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Juan Vicente Gomez of Venezuela.
The club of proxy warlords would include Angola's Jonasi Savimbi, Mozambique's Alphonso Dhlakama and Osama bin Laden in the Afghan-based war against the Soviet Union.
From the onset of its launching, the U.S. empire has sought to support and prop up ideological blank pages by packaging sets of highly attractive but often irrelevant ideas into the minds of any identifiable ideological tabula rasas.
Zimbabwe's own main opposition political party, the MDC, is a classical example of a political party whose leader is a top class ideological blank page. The U.S. often addresses such people as moderates or simply as democratic.
The founding president of the now-fractured MDC has been described as such by the western media on many occasions and this is why it is important that we uncover the U.S. project with unprincipled people or what we would call ideological tabula rasas.
As already mentioned one of the first strategies to thwart the spread of communism and socialism was the use of force.
This was the era of military coups and U.S.-sponsored civil wars in Latin America, Africa and Asia. U.S.-backed rebels became a common phenomenon in the second half of the 20th century.
The justification for these wars was a recklessly packaged propaganda parcel that said communism was so evil that one was meant to share his wife with all other man, to leave your ignition keys on when you park "your" car so that anyone who needed the car could have access to it and where a poor man could just walk into your mansion with a legion of mucus-covered kids and occupy part of your mansion.
It was a war of ideologies which had gone so bad that the Americans had resorted to using force and media power to counter their rivals, the Soviet Union who were basically enjoying admiration from the new states which were breaking the yoke of colonialism.
Needless to say, there is no success story with any of the sponsored rebels including those who managed to take over power.
There is always no success story with associating with the Americans as Saddam, Mobutu, General Noriega, Idi Amin, Abel Muzorewa, Jonas Savimbi and Alfonso Dhlakama would easily testify.
As a follow-up to the proxy wars and military coups of the Cold War the U.S. came up with a post-Cold War neo-liberal package which it successfully imposed on many indebted countries, Zimbabwe included.
This was the 1989 Washington Consensus codified by John Williamson.
This was a neo-liberal programme to spread the ruthlessness of crude capitalism on former socialist and communist countries through a ten-point plan which latter became widely known as ESAP or Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes.
This is the programme one can easily get killed for praising in Singapore, Malaysia, Venezuela, Peru and many other countries which were ravaged to rock bottom poverty by the IMF-driven Washington Consensus.
Zimbabwe embraced the poison in exchange for promised loans and debt relief from the IMF and that is how the country bade farewell to its expanding mass education programme.
That is how Zimbabwe first met the reality of inflation, this was when people on social welfare were told to tighten their belts.
That was when the country privatised accommodation and catering services at state universities, that was when the young workforce was retrenched amid promises of endless job opportunities after a bit of belt-tightening.
Yes, that was when the Government of the people first had problems with its own urban population as the belt-tightening game ceased to be fun.
Indeed, that was the perfect opportunity for the U.S. and its Western allies to quickly identify "moderate democrats", the euphemism for puppets and that is how Zimbabwe ended up with this clownish outfit trading as Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC.
The MDC united or split is basically a group that knows no principles, ideology or policies. The factions are united on a protest resolve to allow western forces to operate freely in Zimbabwe's economic space while the puppets occupy the political space.
Their feeble attempt at talking policy would always hide the phrase "western forces" under the rhetoric of "market forces".
It can not be denied that we have a Government that was once partly fooled and coerced into enforcing policies that created the very disaster which gives the MDC the platform to hijack urban protests to mobilise an ideologically confused protest movement.
The error of the 1990s does not make another U.S. project admirable.
ESAP was a Washington economic project in as much as the MDC is a Washington political project and supporting the MDC is therefore akin to having a defensive soccer player allowing a repeat of a humiliating dribbling stunt from the same striker.
That is a terrible experience for all that have played or followed soccer and it is normally a sign of coming defeat.
The U.S. has closed the era of the SAPs as they call ESAPs and has embarked on a new campaign to perpetuate its hegemony.
This is the campaign of neo-liberal democracy, that other shiny package of "limitless freedoms" and liberties which the MDC preaches so much about but has no clue on its implementation even within its own organisational structures.
This is a campaign on absolute freedoms based on speech, expression, association, property rights and the right to make the country ungovernable.
Neo-liberal democracy is the pretext upon which the Americans invaded Iraq and now they have a crisis on how they should be handling their defeat there.
It is the pretext they used to be in Afghanistan and the same pretext they used to come up with the so-called Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act.
It is the pretext they use to call their perceived enemies "axes of evil, dictators, despots, tyrants, extremists and rogue or failed states."
Democracy as a model of governance will always be excellent but America's version of democracy is a sham.
It is not designed for governance but for fomenting conflict between the middle class and the lower class of the developing countries.
The major problem Zimbabwe faces today are the converts of neo-liberalism, the western-trained or western convinced economists, lawyers, politicians and even hangers on.
These are the people who do not see beyond the riches neo-liberal capitalism has bestowed on them through ESAP while sidelining the rest of the people to untold suffering.
They squeak and cry foul when the poor are given land, they shout in bitterness when multinational companies are made to pay the right amount of tax, they urge the Government to do everything possible to keep their masters happy in the economy because that way they continue to benefit.
Part of Zimbabwe's middle class, together with the MDC; have agreed to be part of the hand that continues to oppress citizens.
All well-meaning Zimbabweans should swear before each other and by God that they will not rest before breaking this yoke of oppression that changes form and format at the nation's expense.
Reprinted from:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200703060076.html
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Neocons Attack 'al-Qaeda' in Somalia
Posted: Tuesday, January 9, 2007
By Kurt Nimmo, kurtnimmo.com
January 09, 2007
It is simply amazing how many times the transparently bogus "al-Qaeda" has been used as an excuse to unleash violence against largely innocent Muslims and yet so few people here in America catch on, preferring to believe the corporate media fed illusion, now hammered firmly into place and accepted as political reality.
Earlier today, we learned a "U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia," CBS reports straight from a Pentagon script. "The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa," apparently reason enough to kill around 200 people. "The gunship flew from its base in Dijibouti down to the southern tip of Somalia... where the al Qaeda operatives had fled after being chased out of the capital of Mogadishu by Ethiopian troops backed by the United States."
In other words, it was a turkey shoot, and the targets were not necessarily "al-Qaeda" but rather members of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), Muslims who not long ago ruled Somalia under the Sharia, or Islamic law. CBS does not bother to mention the fact ICU was popular in Somalia, a Muslim nation.
Here in America, they are called the Somali Islamists--granted, a simplistic term, but then we here in America like our simplistic terms--and thus the Somali version of a Muslim is lumped in with all the other Islamists, including those we are told are fascist, never mind European fascist movements of the early 20th century have nothing to do with Islam, and the word "Islamofascists" is little more than a meaningless and rather crude political epithet.
Of course, the word and nonsensical idea is strictly for domestic consumption, as evil Nazis are part of the firmly entrenched cultural landscape and it is apparently easy to associate Hitler and Nazism with people--indeed, entire cultures and religions--one does not like or understand (remember, "al-Qaeda" is a magnet for Hitler types like Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, or so the corporate media, with their neocon reading scripts in hand, tell us).
Last December, the popular ICU lost control after Ethiopia, with U.S. backing and encouragement, invaded and sent them packing to the southern-most tip of the country. According to CBS, the fleeing ICU are "al-Qaeda" to the man and, as such, fair game for an AC-130 gunship, sent from a U.S. airbase (at Camp Lemonier) in Dijibouti.
Of course, this is little more than a facile and threadbare excuse to kill Muslims, as Bush's "minds" from the American Enterprise Institute are big on slaughtering large numbers of them on ice-thin pretext.
For instance, take the neocon Vance Serchuk, a scribbler at the Weekly Standard, who specializes in making excuses for the Ethiopia invasion, an affair wholly rigged by the United States. According to Serchuk and the neocons, the "Somalia problem came to metastasize over the past six months," and Somalia is not simply "a failed state that could be occasionally exploited by terrorists," but "an active and steadfast ally of the global jihadist movement," thus the "Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa... at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti.... constitutes the U.S. military's first post-9/11 outpost in sub-Saharan Africa."
As Serchuk readily admits, this task force fits "squarely with what last year's Quadrennial Defense Review" proposed, that is a "shifting emphasis" toward the use of "surrogates" in the war on terror, that is to say proxies will do the bidding of the neocons in the hundred or more year "war" planned for us and our children, and our children's children.
Thus the attack against "al-Qaeda" may be considered yet another in a series of attacks against "Islamofascists" in Africa, as effete and bilious chicken hawks, hiding out in their comfy academic and think-tank lairs, are keen to chase Muslims hither and thither--or have National Guard kids from Nebraska chase them--as the neocon "clash of civilizations" plan dictates.
Oh, coincidentally, the American oil giants Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips hold concession rights in Somalia. According to the Los Angeles Times, "corporate and scientific documents disclosed that the American companies are well positioned to pursue Somalia's most promising potential oil reserves the moment the nation is pacified," that is to say after a suitable number of Muslims are killed and a requisite dictatorship takes hold, as the rule of Mohammed Siad Barre didn't exactly work out as planned back in the 90s.
"Somalia is of geostrategic interest to the Bush administration, and the focus of operations and policy since 2001," writes Larry Chin. "This focus is a continuation of long-term policies of both the Clinton administration and the George H.W. Bush administrations. Somalia's resources have been eyed by Western powers since the days of the British Empire."
"A new US cleansing of Somalian 'tyranny' would open the door for these US oil companies to map and develop the possibly huge oil potential in Somalia," notes F. William Engdahl. "Yemen and Somalia are two flanks of the same geological configuration, which holds large potential petroleum deposits, as well as being the flanks of the oil chokepoint from the Red Sea."
No doubt, as kissing cousins to the neolibs, who are primarily interested in "free trade" fire sales, the neocons have taken note of the potential for a Somalian oil and gas bonanza, especially with China eager to get in on the game with its insatiable thirst for petroleum. However, neocons are known primarily for their sociopathic hatred and fear of Muslims, be they Arab or African, and that is the immediate impetus behind their current fascination with the impoverish "failed state" (failed because it was ruled by Muslims) of Somalia.
"And even when the media are looking the other way, our enemies are not," rants Vance Serchuk, AEI research fellow. "Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two, has already issued a recording calling Somalia 'one of the crusader battlefields that are being launched by America ... against Islam,' a message that will no doubt resonate in the Muslim world."
But of course, as the neocons believe, or rather expect us to believe, such messages, issued by documented intelligence assets, "resonate" in Islamic "failed states," that is to say states inching up the neocon target list, as should be expected so long as these career criminals remain on the loose and are not forced to do the perp walk in orange jumpsuits.
Reprinted from: http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=713
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Ethiopia joins Bush's imperialist crusade
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2007
by Charlie Kimber, socialistworker.co.uk
January 04, 2007
The recent Ethiopian invasion of Somalia is a direct product of the US-British "war on terror". It threatens to further destabilise a region which has repeatedly been torn apart by war and famine.
Ethiopia's rulers ordered the war on behalf of George Bush in order to prosecute their own regional interests, to deflect Western criticism of their own repressive regime, and to collect the pay off from being a top US ally in a strategically crucial area. Somalia is just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
But the rejoicing in Ethiopia and the US at the defeat of the Islamic militias in Somalia may prove short-lived.
Certainly Bush does not feel secure. He has already prepared for the next phase of fighting by phoning Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni, urging him to send his troops to Somalia. Kenya's forces are also on stand-by.
The background to the invasion is the takeover of almost all of Somalia by the militias of the United Islamic Courts (UIC) last year. The militias drove out the warlords who had dominated Somali politics for the last 15 years.
The militias' victory was based on genuine popular support. Many people were weary of the violence and brutality of the warlords' rule. In addition several key leaders of Somalia's clans were prepared to back the UIC in order to stabilise the country.
The UIC's success was a blow to US plans for the region. The Bush regime had been growing ever closer to those warlords who were prepared to act as agents in the "war on terror".
The bloody record of these warlords, and the fact they had bitterly divided Somalia, were forgotten – so long as they would boost the US presence in the region.
Takeover
The UIC's takeover was also a defeat for Somalia's "transitional government", formed in 2004 in Kenya after long peace negotiations. This was a government in name rather than fact.
As even the BBC says, "President Abdullahi Yusuf's administration, made up of former warlords, often struggled to control its own members, let alone the country. Its first 18 months in office were spent squabbling about where to set up its base, eventually settling on the town of Baidoa as the capital, Mogadishu, was considered too dangerous."
The US and the transitional government vowed to destroy the UIC, and the Ethiopian government of Meles Zenawi was the chosen instrument.
Meles has long been a favourite of the West. He was part of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa in 2005 and supports the march of neoliberalism across the continent.
Ethiopia was one of only two African countries named as part of the US's "coalition of the willing" supporting the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
For all the West's denunciations of repressive African governments, Meles's crimes have been strangely overlooked. Attacks on students' and workers' demonstrations during the 2005 elections, removal of basic democratic rights and much else received only the mildest rebukes from Britain and the US.
In July, when the US and Britain backed the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Meles felt able to send his troops across the border into Somalia. And since then Ethiopian troops have been testing the ground for a complete offensive.
Last week Meles ordered a full scale invasion backed by thousands of troops, heavy artillery, tanks and aerial bombing. On 26 December US officials proclaimed the Bush regime's support for the invasion, claiming that Ethiopia had "genuine security concerns".
Ethiopian forces did meet some resistance, taking heavy casualties in clashes with young Somalis at Mood Moode, Daynuuna, Idale, and Bandiiradley.
But the vast superiority of Ethiopian arms – supplied over the decades by the US, Russia and Israel – meant that they easily won in set piece battles. Now they have taken the capital Mogadishu and the UIC's stronghold in Kismayo.
However, the war may be far from over. The UIC fighters cannot openly confront tanks and planes but, as the US discovered in Iraq, irregular resistance can be very effective against unpopular occupiers.
The new government will rely heavily on Ethiopian support. The warlords who will now return to power have little popular base and can survive only with external backing.
And the US's green light to Ethiopian expansion could tempt Meles to renew pressure on Eritrea – the two countries came close to war last year.
Regime
If the Somali people turn strongly against the new regime it will be left battling its own people – a battle it may well lose.
One of the first areas of Mogadishu seized by the invading Ethiopians was the site of the former US embassy compound. The US was driven out of Somalia in 1993. US troops, backed by the United Nations (UN), had carried out a "humanitarian intervention" which was claimed to be about ending famine and violence.
Many of Somalia's people initially welcomed the US, but they were soon disillusioned. The US and its UN allies shot down demonstrators in the streets and were repeatedly shown to have carried out torture and murder. The population rose against the US and drove them out.
Ordinary people's interests have been submerged beneath the US's desire to ramp up its control of the Horn of Africa. US military planners have underlined how its base in Djibouti, presently home to 1,800 US troops, is hoped to be the centre of one of the "lily pads" from which mobile US forces can intervene in "hot spots".
Instead of dealing with Somalia's terrible poverty and the present flood emergency, resources have been poured into arms and war.
The Stop the War demonstration on 24 February will not just be about Trident and Iraq – but also against the way imperialism devastates areas such as East Africa.
© Copyright Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original and leave this notice in place.
Reprinted from:
www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id=10416
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Death and Destruction for Somalis
Posted: Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Return of the Warlords
By Amina Mire, counterpunch.org
January 03, 2007
Somaliyaay toosoo
Toosoo isku tiirsada ee
Hadba kiina taag daranee
Taageera waligiinee.
(Somalia wake up,
wake up and join hands together
and we must help the weakest of our people
all of the time.)
--Somali national anthem.
For the average western person, the current Ethiopian invasion of Somalia is just another military operation taking place in a distance land in the war against Islam terror. For Somalis, this invasion is nothing short of humiliating catastrophe. Somalis are deeply nationalistic; yet their nationalistic passion to towards their country did not prevent them from committing self-inflected genocidal civil wars which weakened their cultural fabric, political institutions and central authority so that after 16 years without functioning state, Somalia is today under the occupation of their most hated historical enemy, Ethiopia.
The latest Ethiopian invasion of Somalia is a conflict between the Islamic Courts Uni0n (ICU) and US-sponsored Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), a group of Somali warlords backed by Ethiopia and the US. After the 1991 collapse of central authority in Somalia and ensuing civil war, the ICU emerged as a grassroots organization in response to the lawlessness, violence in the country. In the absence of central political authority and using ,primarily, Sharia law and other traditional Somali values (xeer and dhaqan), the ICU were able to bring law and order throughout the country. They were also able to provide essential services such as healthcare and education. In this way, ICU courts were the only source of stability for civil society while warlords continue to terrorize ordinary Somalis. Whilst the ICU were able clean drugs and guns from the streets in their communities, many attempts to forge transitional government failed because squabbles over power sharing. The current Transitional Federal Government is the latest of many such fruitless efforts.
In June 2006, the Islamic Uni0n Courts assumed centralized control over many parts in the South, including the capital city capital, Mogadishu. This move came about partly after it was revealed that the CIA was secretly working with Somali warlords and Ethiopia to occupy Somalia. In the context, of post September 11, 2001 political stigmatization the Bush Administration had identified the IUC as a terrorist group. Many Somalis saw such rhetoric as a thinly disguised pretext for the US's desire to avenge the 1993 defeat of US Forces in Somalia. Despite U.S. cash payments to various warlords none was able to assert their authority over the population and bring law and order and security to the Somali people.
On the other hand, the ICU was able to clear big urban centers such as Mogadishu, of guns and drugs off the street and also clean up the city. Seaports and airports opened for commercial business again after 1995. The Bush administration continued to treat the ICU as a terrorist organization and started courting its overthrow by using Ethiopia as a proxy state to do its dirty work in exchange for cash incentives for the warlords and for Ethiopia's leader, Meles Zenawi.
Somalis have suffered so much already. Their country has been without central authority since 1991. There is not a shred of evidence that Somalia pose a security threat to the US nor there is any evidence that Islamists are providing safe heaven for Al Qaida or other terrorist groups. In the context of utter humiliation in the hands of their historical enemy, Ethiopia, the current US support of the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia will, most certainly, fan hatred toward the US.
Meles Zenawi faces fierce opposition from various opposition groups inside Ethiopia who accuse him of illegal usurpation of political power, rigging election results, arresting his critics, in some cases, killing hundred of people taking part in peaceful protests against his political misrule. Thus, the sudden invasion of Somalia is a perfect strategy, for him to buttress his legitimacy as a national leader who can defend Ethiopia against Islamic terrorism. Internationally, he is able to position himself and his nation as a friend of the U.S .and Bush's strong man in the Horn of Africa in the US global war against Islamic terror. It is in this context, that Bush administration was able to quickly push through the Security Council the rather dubious resolution which gave Zenawi the green card to invade Somalia.
Resolution 1725 on Somalia authorizes a regional force from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the African Uni0n (AU) to protect the weak Transitional National Government in Baidoa and provide training for its forces. It also authorizes partial lifting of the Somalia Arms Embargo of 1992.
Many Somalis, who are not religious, saw their own safety and security improved under the rule of IUC. In addition, many Somalis in the worldwide Somali Diaspora support IUC for the same pragmatic reasons. Most Somalis were willing to give the IUC sufficient time to clean the streets of guns and violence. After restoring law and order back into the streets, it would have been possible, albeit slowly, to modernize some of their interpretations and the applications of Islamic Sharia. Besides, Sharia laws are already part of the Somali cultural value system.
A large number of Diaspora Somalis were willing to return to Somalia, and rebuild the country, once peace and security were ensured. But now, we are back into the old, ugly days where teenage boys toting AK47s in the back of pick up trucks, used to terrorize the local population. It is hard to predict what future hold for Somalia; I can easily predict the following scenario. Meles Zenawi is a Christian, who draws most of his political power and military support from his Tigre tribe. As a result, his invading soldiers in Somalia are largely from his Tigre Christian tribe. These soldiers do not speak the Somali language; once deep inside Somalia, they will be exposed to attacks by the locals.
Ironically, Zenawi's invasion of Somalia has killed any chance the weak transitional federal government might have had to rule Somalia. The warlords were hated before by all Somalis for their corruption. Now they will be despised as traitors and stooges for the number one enemy of the Somali people, Ethiopia. The history of the animosity between Somalia and Ethiopia is long. In this humiliating condition, Somalis will turn on each other; there will be endless recrimination, revenges and counter-revenges. The clan-based cloak and dagger power struggles will continue.
Amina Mire's last article here was "A Somali Woman Discusses the Sharia Court and Her Cousin Who Leads It". She lives in Ottawa, Canada and can be reached at filsanidilhooyo@yahoo.ca
Reprinted by consent of the author from:
www.counterpunch.org/mire01022007.html
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US Fomenting War in Somalia
Posted: Friday, December 29, 2006
CIA with Ethiopia vs Somalia
...The New York Times in it's daily stream of propaganda confirms the support of the US junta's CIA for this new war against Somalia, another inhuman atrocity by the US managers using the usual and stupid and worn out pretext of their own* al Qaeda: "American intelligence officials theorize that the Islamists, who wrested control of Mogadishu in June from a coalition of warlords supported by the Central Intelligence Agency, have ties to a Qaeda cell based in East Africa that is responsible for the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998."
Full Article : melbourne.indymedia.org
Blundering Into Somalia Yet Again
Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia under cover of the Christmas holiday was a blatant aggression that is likely to widen the arc of conflict across the dangerously turbulent Horn of Africa. It also marks the opening of a new front in Washington’s war against Islamic militants and reformers.
Full Article : lewrockwell.com
US Fomenting War in Somalia
The US-backed, UN-recognized government of Somalia is now limited to the inland town of Baidoa. Mogadishu, the capital, fell to Islamic militias, which now make up the de facto government, in June.
Full Article : africaspeaks.com
The Other War in Ethiopia
The world is watching Ethiopia's war with the totalitarian Islamist regime in Somalia. The world should also start paying attention to the campaign of genocide which the Ethiopian government has been waging against its own people, in southwestern Ethiopia, in the state of Gambella.
Full Article : tcsdaily.com
Ethiopia's War with Somali Islamists a gimmick
Ethiopia's War with Somali Islamists: a gimmick to divert attention from Ethiopia's internal political tension and human rights abuses.
Full Article : nazret.com
Reflections on the Anuak Genocide
Dec 13, 2006 -- Early in this century, at a university in the U.S, a professor asked all students to introduce themselves to the class. Among students, there were an Anuak seated in one of the first few rows and a Highlander Ethiopian seated in the last row. When introduction reached the Anuak, he introduced himself as an Ethiopian and Ethiopian Highlander introduced herself as an Ethiopian. Instead of letting other students behind her introduce themselves, she added that the Anuak was from Gambella and she was from Ethiopia despite the fact Gambella is a part of Ethiopia in international map.
In disputing the Anuak citizenship status as not Ethiopian, she repeated the usually claims Anuak people and other Gambellans face when travel in other parts of Ethiopia. When Gambella people traveled in other parts of Ethiopia, many ruling Highlander Ethiopian elite label Gambellans as others, foreigners and potentially obstacle to the economic development and this perception played a largest role in the December 13, 2003 massacre against Anuak people.
Full Article : sudantribune.com
Ethiopia's Genocide of the Anuak Tribe Broadens After December 13 Massacre
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- A genocide in western Ethiopia that began last December with a massacre of some 400 Anuak tribe members has broadened into widespread attacks by Ethiopian military troops against more than a dozen Anuak villages in the western Ethiopian province of Gambella, according to Anuak refugees and humanitarian aid groups.
Full Article : genocidewatch.org
State Terror Against Indigenous Peoples in Ethiopia
Another Secret War for Oil?
Published first April 6, 2004
By Keith Harmon Snow
The East African nation of Ethiopia is the latest U.S. terror war ally to turn its guns on indigenous peoples in a zone coveted by corporate interests for its natural resources. Four months after armed forces of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Defense Front (EPRDF) and settlers from the Ethiopian highlands initiated a campaign of massacres, repression, and mass rape deliberately targeting the Anuak minority of Ethiopia's southwest, atrocities and killings continue—and the situation remains in whiteout by the Western media.
Based on field investigations conducted in January 2004, two U.S.-based organizations— Genocide Watch and Survivor's Rights International—jointly released a report on February 22, providing substantial evidence that EPRDF soldiers and "Highlander" militias in southwestern Ethiopia targeted Anuak civilians. The Highlanders are not of either the agriculturalist Anuak or cattle-herding Nuer, the two indigenous peoples of the region, but are predominantly Tigray and Amhara people resettled into Anuak territory since 1974.
The current conflict was sparked by the killing of eight UN and Ethiopian government officials whose van was ambushed on December 13, 2003, in the Gambella district of southwestern Ethiopia. While there is no evidence attesting to the ethnicity of the unidentified assailants, the incident provided the pretext for the ongoing pogrom against the Anuak.
Full Article : zmagsite.zmag.org
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