Ban sanction campaigners

The Bulawayo daily, Chronicle, said the government should not treat its enemies with kid gloves when it was clear that they wanted to destroy the country.

It should therefore withdraw the passport of Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai. He could travel on a British or American passport because he was promoting their interests, the paper said.

“In addition, politicians from Britain and America should be barred from coming into this country, as they only want to poison the populace. We have in mind, Tony Blair, George Bush and their Chihuahuas.”

Full cable:

Viewing cable 02HARARE1780, MEDIA REPORT TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS; HARARE

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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 001780

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, INR/R/MR

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO KMDR ZI

SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS; HARARE

¶1.   Under headline “Ban sanction campaigners” the

government-controlled daily “Chronicle” dedicated its

August 5 editorial to calling on the government of Zimbabwe

to retaliate against the “smart sanctions” imposed by the

European Union and the United States against Robert

Mugabe’s administration. Excerpts:

¶2.   “. . .We believe that the government, being the

people’s representative, should not let neo-colonialists

have a field day dragging the good name of the country and

its citizens in mud. The time to act is now. It is high

time that the government responded to this wanton blackmail

by first blacklisting the local champions of sanctions

against Zimbabwe, principal among them Morgan Tsvangirai of

the dubious opposition party, MDC (Movement for Democratic

Change). . .If Tsvangirai et al want to continue on their

anti-Zimbabwe crusade, they must travel on British or

American documents because the interests that they are

serving have nothing to do with the people of this country.

We believe, therefore, that the first step that the

government should take is to withdraw the privilege of

using the Zimbabwean passport.

“In addition, politicians from Britain and America

should be barred from coming into this country, as

they only want to poison the populace. We have in

mind, Tony Blair, George Bush and their

Chihuahuas. . .There is no need for the government

to waste resources going to court when it wants to

deport British and American spies. It should just

deport them in the same fashion that Zimbabweans are

being humiliated in the hands of British and

American immigration officials. Why should we

continue to treat enemies with kid gloves when it is

clear that they want to destroy us?”

WHITEHEAD

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