Leads the World coverage.
Also see: Zimbabwe to be U.S. AfriKom Base
"Mugabe rival banned from rallies; Leader again detained while campaigning Opposition prepares ad" by Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times | June 7, 2008
JOHANNESBURG - The message from the election campaign posters decking the streets of Zimbabwe's capital is blunt: "Mugabe Is Right," a reference to the president who has ruled for 28 years and seems loath to give up power.
With his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, banned yesterday from addressing political rallies in the run-up to the June 27 presidential election, there is doubt about whether the opposition's campaign posters will even be allowed....
After a crackdown by the Mugabe regime aimed at the opposition, Western diplomats, and aid organizations, analysts believe the regime is unlikely to step down if it loses the election.... The ban was the latest in a series of steps the government has taken to disrupt the opposition and others perceived as critics of the regime....
Now you'll get a laundry list of complaints:
Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts yesterday urged UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to express outrage over the detention of Tsvangirai, and asked the United Nations to press Mugabe to ensure the security of the runoff.
On Thursday, police chased US diplomats investigating political violence and detained them for six hours at a roadblock while Mugabe supporters menaced them. The leader of a smaller opposition party, Arthur Mutambara, was arrested recently for writing an article critical of Mugabe.
The regime on Thursday banned any field work by international aid agencies, which it accuses of supporting the opposition. About one-third of Zimbabwe's population, or roughly 4 million people, are dependent on the aid for survival amid widespread allegations that Mugabe's government has mismanaged the country's agricultural sector.
Burma, Mugabe, anyone but Israel, right, MSM?
The European Union yesterday called on Zimbabwean authorities to allow aid agencies to operate freely, and UNICEF warned that 185,000 desperately needy children would be denied assistance as a result of the ban.
Yup, they always trot out the children as propaganda tools.
And WHAT ABOUT GAZA'S CHILDREN (see links)?
James McGee, the US ambassador in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, told journalists that the government was using food as a political weapon, distributing it mainly to Mugabe supporters. McGee warned that there could be massive hunger if this continued.
Excuse me?
See Fighting Over Fuel please!!!!
McGee said the US Embassy has evidence that the government is offering food to opposition members only if they turn in identification that would allow them to vote. The government denied the allegation.
Mugabe's regime has used food as a political weapon in the past.... The government-controlled media has focused on Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party, all but ignoring Tsvangirai's campaign."
That about does it for me.
Reached my limit on the Zio-prop!
