KEY POINTS:
President Robert Mugabe is planning to declare a state of emergency in Zimbabwe, the Opposition said yesterday, after what the Government claims was an assassination attempt on the Air Force chief.
Perence Shiri, one of Mugabe's inner circle, was shot in the arm on Sunday, media reports claim.
Attacks of this kind are almost unheard of in Zimbabwe, where the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change has insisted on using peaceful means.
A day earlier, the Zimbabwe Government accused neighbouring Botswana, whose President, Seretse Ian Khama, is among the few African leaders to openly criticise Mugabe, of training rebels to launch a coup attempt. The accusations were strenuously denied, but Opposition leaders fear they will be used as justification for another violent crackdown on political opponents.
A senior Opposition leader, Tendai Biti, said the ruling party was getting ready to declare a state of emergency as a prelude to outlawing the MDC.
Air Marshal Shiri was reportedly ambushed on the way to his farm, which was seized from a white farmer eight years ago, and is now recovering in a Harare hospital.
The Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi, said this had been an attempt to destabilise the country. "The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks targeting high-profile persons, government officials, government establishments and public transportation systems," Mohadi said.
Earlier this week, the Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, said he had "compelling evidence" that MDC members were being trained in Botswana to fight.
The Zimbabwe people are in the grip of what Opposition Senator David Coltart has called the "perfect humanitarian storm". A cholera outbreak has claimed at least 1000 lives, the United Nations says, with officials from Zimbabwe's Health Ministry privately saying the real figure could be at least five times higher. With the collapse of the health system, Zimbabweans have been flocking across the borders to South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.
Mugabe, 84, claims cholera is being used as a cover for foreign intervention, and one of his ministers accused Britain and the United States of using "chemical warfare" against the country. Despite the crises, Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF party have refused to honour a power-sharing agreement with the Opposition.
- INDEPENDENT
