DATE=9/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ZIMBABWE / BOMB (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266393
BYLINE=MARTIN RUSHMERE
DATELINE=HARARE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Zimbabwe's The Movement for Democratic Change
political party says the government is responsible for
an attack on the party's headquarters. Martin
Rushmere reports from Harare that a building and a
motor vehicle were damaged when a hand grenade was
thrown at the party offices (Tuesday) in a residential
area of Harare, but no one was injured.
TEXT: Welshman Ncube, the secretary general of the
Movement for Democratic Change, says the government
was behind the attack. Mr. Ncube told journalists
that the attack was part of what he called - a
campaign of intimidation and terror against anyone
opposing the state."
Two private security officers guarding the property
were shielded from shrapnel by a vehicle, which took
most of the force of the explosion. Mr. Ncube says
the attack was specifically aimed at scaring
volunteers who work at the offices.
The party secretary-general says the policy of the
government is, in his words - If you cannot win the
hearts and minds of the people you bomb them.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast and
there was no immediate comment from the government. A
police bomb disposal squad took away the remains of
the hand grenade, which was of the type used in the
Second World War.
// OPT // The Movement for Democratic Change won 57
of 120 elected seats in national elections in June,
with the ruling ZANU-PF party capturing 62. The
elections were marked by violence throughout the
country, which led to at least 35-people being killed,
almost all of them opposition supporters. // END OPT
// (SIGNED)
NEB/MR/GE/RAE
12-Sep-2000 10:28 AM EDT (12-Sep-2000 1428 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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