Mugabe’s troops raid opposition offices

 Photo from Reuters

I guess it was too good to be true that Robert Mugabe would leave office without being a jackass (Associated Press link);

President Robert Mugabe’s government raided the offices of the main opposition movement and rounded up foreign journalists Thursday in an ominous indication that he may use intimidation and violence to keep his grip on power.

Police raided a hotel used by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and ransacked some of the rooms. Riot police also surrounded another hotel housing foreign journalists, and took away several of them, according to a man who answered the phone there.

“Mugabe has started a crackdown,” Movement for Democratic Change general secretary Tendai Biti told The Associated Press. “It is quite clear he has unleashed a war.”

Biti said the raid at the Meikles Hotel targeted “certain people … including myself.” Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was “safe” but had canceled plans for a news conference, he said.

Biti said that Thursday’s clampdown was a sign of worse to follow but that the opposition would not go into hiding.

So, we can expect the Islamic Republic and Venezuela to start making excuses for Mugabe any minute now.

Category: Foreign Policy