Tsvangirai welcomes Mbeki’s appointment to tackle crisis in Zim.
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday welcomed the appointment of South African President Thabo Mbeki to spearhead the promotion of dialogue among political parties and interest groups in Zimbabwe. Heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) appointed Mbeki to the role on Thursday, at the close of their two-day summit in Dar-Es-Salaam.

Tsvangirai told a press conference in Harare that Mbeki should begin the process by asking Mugabe to halt all hostilities against opposition activists before outlining a time framework for the talks.

SADC fails to condemn Mugabe’s human rights abuses
Heads of state from 14 member countries that make up the Southern African Development Community announced Thursday they had agreed South Africa ’s President Thabo Mbeki will take the lead in resolving the political crisis in Zimbabwe . But there was no public condemnation of the human rights abuses that have shocked the world or any plan to open up democratic space in a country in a virtual state of emergency.

EU MP says targeted sanctions won’t be lifted until Mugabe ends tyranny
SADC leaders have been heavily criticised for blindly backing Mugabe at the Tanzanin summit. EU legislator Geoffrey Van Orden said it was a step in the right direction that regional leaders even had a summit to discuss the crisis but the outcome has been predictable and disappointing. The African leaders appealed for the lifting of targeted sanctions against members of the regime but Van Orden said targeted sanctions can only be lifted when Mugabe steps aside and has free and fair elections.

Mugabe tells party supporters Tsvangirai deserved to be assaulted The ruling party’s Central Committee held a crucial meeting in Harare on Friday and it is strongly believed they will endorse Mugabe’s plan to run for the presidential election. The show of support from his African counterparts at the SADC meeting boosted the 83 year old confidence and he boasted to supporters on his return to Zimbabwe that he had not received any criticism from the heads of state.

Teenager pleads for father’s release
The seventeen-year-old daughter of Raymond Bake, the coordinator for ward 34 in the Combined Harare Residents Association, has sent out an appeal to the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of her abducted father. Rosila Bake has visited every police station in the capital and is almost giving up on seeing her father alive.

MDC activists badly tortured in police cells
The MDC has claimed that most of its activists who were arrested Wednesday when police stormed their party headquarters Harare , have been badly tortured by police. 4 of the 9 activists appeared in court Thursday and have been admitted to hospital with serious injuries. They face charges of attempted murder stemming from recent petrol bomb attacks the government is claiming is the work of the MDC.

Students urge Zimbabweans to support ZCTU stay-away
University students in Zimbabwe have said the mass stay-away organized by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is an event that will benefit the whole country and should be supported by all Zimbabweans. At a national meeting held last week they resolved to do everything in their power to make sure the ZCTU stay-away was a success.

More abductions as Mugabe continues crackdown
The arbitrary abduction and beating of MDC leaders and activists continued Wednesday with reports that state sponsored hit squads abducted MDC senior official Ian Makoni and his wife Theresa at gun point from their home. The MDC says the incident took place Tuesday evening and the members of parliament for Budiriro and Glen View, Amos Chisvuure and Paul Madzore ran away to escape the same raids.

Zanu PF ‘Chipangano’ brigade behind abductions of MDC activists
There is growing evidence that a notorious brigade within Zanu PF known as ‘Chipangano’ is behind the abduction of several MDC activists in the past weeks. The gang has been used in the past to terrorise opposition supporters but had gone underground for some time. It is thought it has been reactivated to crush rising discontent.

Zanu (PF) sets up militia bases in rural Matabeleland
The ruling Zanu (PF) party is already setting up militia camps and bases in many parts of Matabeleland ahead of the anticipated harmonised presidential and parliamentary elections next year, the opposition MDC said on Monday.

Mutambara MDC cancel rally in solidarity with Tsvangirai MDC
The Mutambara MDC say they cancelled their Chitungwiza rally over the weekend following attempts by government to drive a wedge between the two factions of the MDC.

State agents raid home of MDC chairman ahead of rally in Mutare The Tsvangirai MDC report that 2 agents from the Law and Order Division raided the home of their provincial chairman for Manicaland Godfrey Mafa in Zimunya on Friday morning. He was in Harare so the agents went to Sakubva where they arrested the youth chairman Knowledge Nyamhunga and detained him briefly over the alleged petrol bombing of a police station.

Government threatens journalists & western media
The government has turned its eye on the media as the crackdown on the opposition and democratic forces continues. The Information ministry and the state sponsored Media and Information Commission have issued threats to foreign correspondents working in Zimbabwe and also accused CNN of biased reportage on the situation in Zimbabwe .

Bus rank marshals being trained to join militia squads
A member of the Combined Harare Residents Association based in Mbare has said that bus rank marshals from the suburbs are being picked up by Zanu PF officials every Wednesday for militia training in the city centre. Zanu PF has an office in Harare ’s 4 th street , with a notorious reputation for being used as a torture base.

Famine stalks Zimbabwe’s rural areas
The MDC has urged the international community to commit critically needed food aid to Zimbabwe to avert a large scale humanitarian crisis amid reports that people are starving and dying in rural areas.

20 MDC supporters arrested & police raid homes in Chitungwiza
On Thursday morning about 20 MDC supporters were arrested after they took to the streets of Harare to protest the killing by police of MDC member Itai Manyeruke. They say police tortured Manyeruke to death after the blocked prayer rally in Highfield, then stashed his body at a morgue without the family’s knowledge. Those arrested are being held at Harare Central.

Bakers close as government insists on controlled prices
The baking industry has announced they are operating at only 30% capacity as a result of the government’s price control exercise. Vincent Mangoma, acting chairman of the National Bakers Association, said many people have lost their jobs and serious bread shortages have developed around the country.

ACP-EU MPs resolve to investigate Zim rights abuse
A political committee of the Africa , Caribbean and Pacific – European Union joint parliamentary assembly, resolved Wednesday to send a mission to Zimbabwe to investigate the recent attacks on members of the opposition and civic groups. The Vice President of the Tsvangirai-MDC Thokozani Khupe, who attended the meeting in place of Nelson Chamisa who was viciously attacked by suspected state security agents last Sunday, said the ACP-EU parliamentarians also issued a resolution condemning the brutal attacks on the political activists in Zimbabwe .

ZCTU to go ahead with stay away
A stay away being planned by the ZCTU will go ahead despite government attempts to destabilize the union and its protest plans. The stay away on the 3 rd and 4 th April is meant to press government to address the economic meltdown. Secretary General Wellington Chibhebhe said a group of ‘so-called unions’ met with Zanu PF structures in Marondera Saturday and are trying to mobilize people in the rural areas who will be offloaded in Harare to intimidate people into going to work during the strike.

MDC activists stage protest inside Zim embassy in London
MDC activists in the UK Wednesday staged an hour long sit-in protest inside the Zimbabwe embassy demanding an end to government’s crimes against humanity. They intended handing over a petition calling on the regime to stop killing and brutalising innocent civilians. When the group identified itself they were surprised to see embassy staff bolting away and hiding themselves in the building.

The spokesperson for the Tsvangirai MDC, Nelson Chamisa, is in hospital. He was due to fly out of Harare to attend a meeting in Brussels when he was stopped and beaten. Reports say his eye socket is fractured.

In other news, a government spokesman told a British newspaper last night that murdered activist Gift Tandare had been buried in secret and his family forbidden to attend.
We have been unable to get further details.

Mutambara, Kwinjeh, Holland stopped from leaving Zimbabwe.
Professor Arthur Mutambara the leader of one of the MDC factions was detained at Harare International Airport Saturday. Maxwell Zimuto an Information Officer with the Mutambara led MDC said the opposition leader was about to fly to South Africa when he was stopped. It’s been alleged that he has been taken to Harare Central Police Station. Police refused to comment.

Soldiers shoot 2 as the world reacts to Zimbabwe brutality
Soldiers shot 2 innocent civilians near the home of Gift Tandare, the NCA youth official who was shot and killed by police Sunday. The victims were injured and taken to hospital. Mourners said police were not provoked. There has been strong condemnation from the international community at the events unfolding in Zimbabwe.

Arrested NCA & WOZA activists released
All 37 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly who were arrested in Harare Thursday were released on Friday afternoon, after paying admission of guilt fines. Meanwhile the 20 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, who were arrested in Masvingo on Tuesday, were finally released on bail, also on Friday afternoon.

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) has organized a major rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday to celebrate the role of women in the global struggle for justice.

MDC hails SADC plans to discuss Zimbabwe crisis
The Tsvangirai MDC has hailed the Southern African Development Community plans to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis at its Lusaka summit in August as a step forward. MDC secretary for Foreign Affairs Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro said SADC has been jolted into action because Zimbabweans had reached the point of open defiance and possible rebellion against Mugabe.

TV producer exposes secret diamond mining by military
A few days after entering a plea bargain to charges that he filmed without accreditation Peter Moyo, a producer for South African TV station e-TV, has made disclosures highlighting the dirty deals and high security networks dominating the Marange diamond fields.

Temporary reprieve for Zimbabwean asylum seekers in the UK
The UK Court of Appeal has sent the ‘AA’ asylum test case back to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal because the lower court ignored some of the oral evidence presented. Legal experts warned that the latest development only provides temporary reprieve for failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers as most of the grounds used in the appeal were dismissed.

MDC hold largest London protest
More than 300 members of the MDC UK province converged on the Zimbabwean Embassy in London Saturday for what they described as their biggest ever protest. Demonstrators marched from Trafalgar Square to the embassy offices.

Police go door to door assaulting MDC youth in Mabvuku
We have received some disturbing news from women in the Mabvuku township of Harare that beginning in the early hours of Saturday morning, police have been going door to door waking up suspected MDC youth, assaulting them and then loading them into a van without disclosing any details of where they were being taken. Mabvuku MDC legislator Francis Nhari said there were unconfirmed reports that at least 11 youth had been taken by police so far.

US renews targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe officials
Targeted restrictions against Mugabe and his close associates were renewed by another year on Thursday. The restrictions imposed in March 2003 freeze assets individuals may have in the U.S. and prohibit Americans from conducting business with them. Mugabe’s bankrupt government is accused of corruption, mismanagement of the economy and gross human rights violations.

Ban on meetings forces pro-democracy groups to meet in S.A.
The country’s pro-democracy groups, including the two factions of the MDC, have met in Johannesburg, South Africa to plan the way forward following the government’s ban on all political meetings in Zimbabwe. The all party conference in Johannesburg on Thursday was attended by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, Woman of Zimbabwe Arise, the National Constitutional Assembly and many others.