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Tsvangirai thwarted as passport is seized at airport

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Published Date: 15 August 2008
By Jane Fields in Zimbabwe
SECURITY agents at Harare International Airport yesterday seized the passport of Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, to stop him attending a regional summit to discuss the unresolved crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mr Tsvangirai was booked on a flight to Johannesburg and was due to brief leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the breakdown of talks with the president, Robert Mugabe, on Tuesday.

Mr Tsvangirai said: "We were all schedu
led to go and meet with the… SADC organ on politics and defence. We're not going anymore."

The passports were released after four hours, too late for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) team to catch their flight.

Lawyers said the move called into question "the sincerity and commitment" of Mr Mugabe concerning the negotiations.

He refuses to hand over executive powers to Mr Tsvangirai, who won the first round of presidential elections in March, but pulled out of the second round after Mugabe militiamen killed more than 100 opposition supporters.

State newspapers yesterday reverted to hostile coverage of Mr Tsvangirai and appeared to suggest Mr Mugabe would form a government without him. Secret service agents have approached opposition MPs in an attempt to co-opt them into a new government without their leader. One MDC official said the regime was "desperate and cornered".



Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 14 August 2008 10:44 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Boy Wonder,

15/08/2008 07:14:38
And Mugabe's criminal behaviour goes on. Does no-one care now that he's "in talks"??
2

Gulliver,

Harare 15/08/2008 09:13:23
I don't understand why Tsvangirai was blocked if he was meant to be part of the talks. This kind of behaviour is certainly unacceptable. Even if he was an uninvited guest I'm sure the other heads of state would have dealt with him in a similar manner like they did to him in Lusaka, April 2008. He was not allowed to address the meeting of the heads of state in an official position because he was not a sitting head of state.

The writer of the above article also points to the role of the State media in recent days. I agree to some extent that the parties to the agreement have not held firm one of the conditions signed to under the MOU- namely, to prevent leakage of discussions to the media before an agreement is reached. The fact that we had the Herald (www.herald.co.zw) awash with details of the agreements undermines the spirit of confidentiality and negotiating in good-faith which are key tenets for principled dialogue.

HOWEVER, I also wonder at Mr. Tsvangirai's sincerity.. in what capacity and for what reason did Tsvangirai recieve this reply from Dr. Bill Wilson?
http://www.billwilsonmsp.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=1

Was he campaigning for the cutting-off of investments to Zim by Anglo to cripple the Zim economy so that people suffer and he blames Mugabe for the economic meltdown??? This is what I personally find mind-boggling. INVITING sanctions and actions that will bring the economy to its knees so that he vindicates himself proves that the other guy is a failure? So that what when people experience hardships they turn aginst the present government? And when someone then gets into power he can invite all his friends back and he can be said to have done wonders for the economy "wrecked by his predecessor"?

This is why some find it hard to accept Mr. Tsvangirai because they see through him and his intentions.
3

Media 1,

cape town 15/08/2008 20:30:55
Nobody other than Mugabe has crippled Zimbabwe. He may point fingers at the west and say they are to blame for the crisis because they placed the nation under sanctions, but we all know that white South Africa was placed under sanctions and there was no mass starvation,displacement and chaos. There was however, a lot of new innovation and invention and a real surge in technological advancement.
Mugabe has starved the people, he has beaten them and murdered them.
He WILL be brought to justice!
And how funny it will be to see the little powerless freak squirm in his shoes...hahahaha
4

oder,

Scotland 16/08/2008 08:33:30
Mugabe is the "authority" and rule`s the country as if it were his own personal property,I don't know if Mr.Tsvangirai will be good or bad, doubtful if he could be worse than Mugabe! all politicians have a lack of sincerity at some point in there lives,but Mugabe outshines them all! its unwise for anyone to make a "pact" with this devil!
As Media 1 rightly points out under the unpopular white governments of Southern Africa with all it sanctions and embargoes there was no mass starvation displacement of people or the meltdown of the economy as in the case of Zimbabwe! African political leaders have managed to do this all on their own.
Many African countries some that were never colonised have the same problems as the former colonised countries, indicates to some extent the problem is Africa`s leaders.
5

Jan Waleski,

16/08/2008 10:07:29
4 oder,Scotland
"to some extent the problem is Africa`s leaders"

Not to mention the very low African average IQ

 

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