Mugabe, al-Qaida links alleged

As the BBC finally publishes proof that the terror campaign in Zimbabwe is organised by the police and army — others have done this already but the BBC seems to like exclusives from its own reporters and has yet to add one link to a non-government, civic society source like Sokwanele, Solidarity Peace Trust, Kubatana, Zim Lawyers for Human Rights, Eyes on Zimbabwe, MISA, WOZA, Human Rights NGO Forum, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, or Media Monitoring Project Zim — ZanuPF is alleged to be attempting to buy arms from terrorists.

This report claims that meetings happened whilst Mugabe was in Rome at the (sic) UN Food Summit.

Intelligence agents at the conference confirmed Mugabe was in daily touch with the generals to discuss details of their secret meetings with the PAGAD and Qibla groups -- regarded by London and Washington as two of the most dangerous terror organizations operating on the African continent.

"The purpose was to see how the groups could provide the arms that China failed to deliver recently when the ship's cargo was turned away from African ports and forced to return to China," confirmed a senior intelligence source.

The meetings were held in Bulawayo in a government safe house last week.

Chairing the discussions was Gen. Constantine Chiwenga, the country's overall military chief. With him were Augustine Chihuri, the Zimbabwe chief of police; Gen. Paradzai Zimondi, head of the prison service, and the fourth member was Air Marshal Perence Shiri, the commander of the country's air force.

All four fought in Mugabe's guerrilla force during the war against white rule in the 1970s.

An MI6 intelligence analyst described the quartet as "the junta which is now running Zimbabwe on a daily basis. It was they who stopped Mugabe from quitting when he lost the first presidential election in March. It was they who ordered the attack on British and U.S. diplomats last week and control the continued campaign of terror against the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change."

The junta's links with Qibla and PAGAD have raised serious concerns within MI6 and other Western intelligence services that Zimbabwe soon could face a full-scale blood bath.

These generals are the ones responsible for the Gukurahundi campaign against Joseph Nkomo's people in Matabeleland in the early 1980s which killed up to 30,000 people. This was where the tactics currently being used - such as withholding food - were first employed by ZANU. The troops used were trained by North Koreans.

The techniques were calculated to maximise terror, pain, grief and humiliation. The soldiers, under Mugabe’s instruction, set out to injure and mutilate human beings, to kill them, but to do so in such evil cruel ways that the scars would be indelibly etched in memories for generations to come.

Mugabe intended to leave this civilian population with fear for the rest of their lives, for the horror to be so great that they would pass the fear down to subsequent generations. This is how he believed he would manage discontent in the region, and hold onto power indefinitely.

These generals fear the International Criminal Court.

And the experience of the Gukurahundi campaign against Nkomo's supporters is why the campaign led by Thabo Mbeki for a 'government of national unity' and calling off of the presidential election is rejected by the MDC. Plus, finally, a coalition of African leaders and dignitaries.

Fourteen former presidents and African dignitaries including former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for Zimbabwean authorities to allow a free and fair vote on June 27 overseen by independent observers.

"As Africans we consider the forthcoming elections to be critical. We are aware of the attention of the world," said the appeal, signed by some of Africa's most well-known figures, from Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour to former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano.

"We call for an end to the violence and intimidation, and restoration of full access for humanitarian and aid agencies."

They also called for an "adequate number of independent electoral observers" both during and after the June poll.

• You can contact Sokwanele to help them in their efforts to achieve democracy in Zimbabwe