AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - “Free all the captives by January 1 or we will call off negotiations with the Presidential party,” says opposition leader

Harare (Agenzia Fides) - “The MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) can no longer be seated at the same negotiation table with a party that kidnaps our members and other innocent civilians, and denies them the right to a court hearing,” said Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC (the main opposition party in Zimbabwe) in a press conference held in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.
Tsvangirai affirms that at least “42 members of his party have been kidnapped. This cannot continue on.” Various civilians have also been kidnapped by people in plainclothes who are supposedly policemen (see Fides 12/12/2008). The opposition accuses President Mugabe and other members of the party ZANU-PF of having ordered the kidnappings. The government and the opposition have been working for months on a difficult negotiation in order to form a government of national unity. However, Tsvangirai says that “if these kidnappings do not cease immediately and if all the missing persons are not freed or given a hearing before January 1, 2009, I will ask the National Council of the MDC to pass a resolution suspending all negotiations with the ZANU-PF.”
The creation of a government of national unity is considered the only means to rescuing the country from its serious crisis: high unemployment, the highest inflation rate in the world (a recently issued bill for 10 billion dollars in Zimbabwe is worth 20 US dollars on the black market), the AIDS epidemic, and now the cholera epidemic. According to recent evaluations made by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs working in Zimbabwe, there have been 1,123 victims and 20,896 cases of persons with the disease. Some observers report, however, that the statistics could be even worse, as there are very few or no control stations in some areas. According to some estimates, the cholera epidemic will take the lives of 60,000 people.
Tensions with Botswana are on the rise, as the country is accused by the Mugabe regime of harboring structures where MDC-linked militias are armed and trained. Both the party and the government of Botswana denies the accusations. These tensions are added on to by the attack on Air Force Commander Perence Shiri, who was wounded in a ambush carried out by unknown individuals. According to local press sources, the police are offering two possibilities: an internal dispute in the ZANU-PF or an attack carried out by persons linked to the opposition. The MDC affirms that Mugabe is trying to take advantage of the event to stifle the opposition. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 19/12/2008)