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Quote: Reserve Bank Gov. Gideon Gono told lawmakers that many black farmers, including politicians, who resettled on former white-owned farms, were failing to produce food. Zimbabwe was once the region's breadbasket.

Quote: Apr 1, 2007, 15:39 GMT Harare/Johannesburg - The whereabouts of nine Zimbabwean opposition activists was unknown Sunday after a late-night raid on their hospital by a group of soldiers, an opposition spokesman said. The activists were being treated at a private clinic in central Harare for beatings sustained while in police custody. They were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday during raids on their homes and on the headquarters of their Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Police claim the activists are behind a string of petrol bomb attacks in recent days. Soldiers came to the hospital on Saturday night and drove the badly-injured activists away in trucks, said Eliphas Mukonoweshuro of the MDC. 'They were abducted at midnight last night by a group of soldiers,' he told Deutsche Presse Agentur-dpa in a telephone interview. 'We don't know where they are,' he added. 'The lawyers are being rebuffed wherever they go.' The nine appeared in court on Saturday, where they were sent to hospital for treatment by the magistrate. They were being held at the clinic under police guard. 'What is happening now resembles the work of vigilantes,' said Mukonoweshuro.

Quote: Zimbabwe journalist murdered 'over leaked Tsvangirai pictures' By Daniel Howden, Deputy Foreign Editor Published: 04 April 2007 A local journalist suspected of having links to Zimbabwe's opposition has been found murdered following an escalation of the government's campaign of violence and intimidation. Edward Chikombo, a part-time cameraman for the state broadcaster ZBC, was abducted from his home in the Glenview township outside Harare last week. His body was discovered at the weekend near the village of Darwendale, 50 miles west of the capital, The Independent has learnt. There are concerns in Harare that the killing may be linked to the smuggling out of the country of television pictures of the badly injured opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after he was beaten up by police on 11 March. A former colleague of Mr Chikombo said: "It's not clear whether the murder was a message to the media or a political killing." The footage of Mr Tsvangirai leaving a Harare courthouse with a suspected fractured skull, and then lying in a hospital bed, provoked a storm of international criticism of Robert Mugabe's regime. Journalists for the state broadcaster routinely film news as it happens in the country but cannot use the footage in heavily censored bulletins. Some pictures do find a way out of the country and in the past staff at ZBC have been sacked or harassed under suspicion of selling it to foreign broadcasters. The government has banned both the BBC and CNN from reporting from Zimbabwe and any unacc-redited journalist faces a two-year prison sentence. Since taking power in 1980, Mr Mugabe has nationalised media outlets and the last independent voice disappeared with the recent closure of the Daily News. Local journalists are forced to work undercover for international outlets while accreditation papers are routinely refused to organisations seen as hostile. Eyewitnesses saw a group of armed men abduct Mr Chikombo last Thursday. His captors drove a silver pick-up truck of the same make used in numerous similar abductions during a sustained three-week terror campaign targeting government opponents. The pattern of abductions and punishment beatings has become a terrifying nightly ritual in Zimbabwe, where scores of opposition activists and their relatives have been attacked by gangs using unmarked cars and police-issue weapons. The government has refused to confirm or deny its involvement in these "hit squads" but Mr Mugabe has spoken of the police's right to "bash" the opposition and of "terrorist acts" by opponents. Another local journalist, Gift Phiri, a senior reporter for the exiled The Zimbabwean newspaper, was detained and beaten by police on Sunday. Mr Phiri was picked up near his home in Sunningdale, in Harare. His lawyer, Rangu Nyamurundira, said his client had been badly beaten while in custody. "When I saw him, Gift could not sit down as he had been very badly beaten on his back and his buttocks. He told me four policemen, including the chief superintendent, had tortured him for hours. "One of them pinned him to the floor with his boot, while the others beat him with an assortment of a baseball bat, metal handle and a police baton." Shortly after his arrest Mr Phiri was accused of throwing petrol bombs at police stations but that charge was changed to, "practising as a journalist without accreditation". Mr Phiri's newspaper confirmed that he had applied for accreditation but had received no response. Meanwhile, a British journalist, Alex Perry, has left Zimbabwe after his arrest and release, Time magazine confirmed yesterday. He was detained for apparently entering the country without official media accreditation. Mr Perry, the South Africa correspondent for the news magazine, was arrested in Zimbabwe on Saturday, apparently for entering the country without official media accreditation. He was freed on Monday night by Zimbabwean police after paying a small fine. Time said in a statement: "Time correspondent Alex Perry was briefly detained while on assignment in Gwanda, Zimbabwe. He has since been released and is no longer in the country."

Quote: 'Death threat' against UK official in Zimbabwe By Paul Willis and agencies Last Updated: 4:44pm BST 03/04/2007 Halt our suffering, Tsvangirai asks South Africa A threatening comment against a British embassy staff member in Zimbabwe warning her that she could face being returned to the UK “in a body bag” if she wasn’t careful has been condemned by the Foreign Office. Morgan Tsvangirai appealed to President Mbeki to halt the suffering of millions of Zimbabweans The apparent death threat appeared in an article in the state-controlled newspaper, The Herald, accusing British political officer Gillian Dare of financing an alleged campaign of violence and terrorism by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In an article on the newspaper's leader page, David Samuriwo wrote: "It will be a pity for her family to welcome her home at Heathrow airport in a body bag just like some of her colleagues from Iraq and Afghanistan." A spokesman for the Foreign Office described the comments as "shocking and absolutely unacceptable”. The spokesman said the Permanent Under Secretary had summoned the Zimbabwean ambassador to his offices to express Britain’s concerns. The spokesman said: "She (Ms Hare) was pursuing entirely legitimate activities as a member of the embassy…He (the Permanent Under Secretary) emphasised that we hold the Zimbabwean authorities responsible for protecting our diplomats just as we provide protection for the Zimbabwean mission staff in London." advertisementThe threats, which also accused Ms Dare of playing “night nurse to arrested MDC hooligans", are the strongest yet against a Western diplomat during a period of escalating political unrest in the country. Zimbabwe’s state media has made much of the presence of Western diplomats at court appearances and news conferences for opposition activists, including Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader who suffered bone fractures, back wounds and internal injuries after a prayer meeting was brutally crushed by police in Harare. President Robert Mugabe threatened recently to expel US Ambassador Christopher Dell and other Western envoys for criticising the government and allegedly giving financial support to opposition activists pushing for "regime change" in Zimbabwe. Mr Tsvangirai appealed to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa yesterday to intervene to "halt the suffering" of millions in his homeland. "There is no time to waste. The people of Zimbabwe need food and jobs, they need freedom and help." Mr Mbeki was chosen by southern African leaders last week to lead mediation efforts between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai after a month of attacks on opposition figures in Zimbabwe.