July 2001 Africa News Headlines

HARARE - Zimbabwe has suspended the accreditation of BBC correspondents in the country in the latest crackdown by President Robert Mugabe's government on the media, a government-owned newspaper revealed yesterday.

But the move brought immediate condemnation from the country' main opposition leader, who said it showed the government's "intolerance" and "persecution of the media".

In a letter to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published by the government-owned Herald newspaper on Thursday, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said "the distortions and misrepresentations were unacceptable and would not be allowed to continue".

Moyo said BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar had in a report on the official opening of parliament on Tuesday "used the words that the President 'vowed to continue with the forcible acquisition' (of land), yet these words were nowhere in the President's speech".

"The President made it clear that land would be acquired as it has been, in terms of the laws of Zimbabwe," Moyo said in the letter."

"It is apparent that, as it has happened many times before, the BBC approached the President's speech with a preconceived view to distorting it, to give a false impression that there is no rule of law in Zimbabwe," he said.

He said there was a world of difference between forcible acquisition and lawful acquisition.

"Under the circumstances and given many previous examples of deliberate unethical and unprofessional conduct by the BBC, which we have brought to your attention...please be advised that the Department of Information and Publicity has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in Zimbabwe pending agreement, if at all possible, on an ethical and professional code of conduct."

In London, a BBC spokesman told Reuters: "We are very disappointed with the decision. We will certainly be discussing the situation with the Zimbabwean government to try to resolve it as soon as possible. We certainly stand by his (Omaar's) piece."

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told a news conference in Johannesburg the suspension "demonstrates the degree of intolerance by the government of Zimbabwe and the persecution of the media in the country."

Tsvangirai, president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is in South Africa on invitation of the ruling African National Congress and its ally, labour movement Cosatu, to brief them on Zimbabwe'spolitical and economic situation. Tsvangirai said his own party's view was based on freedom of speech and democratic ideals.

"Zimbabwe must not be a liability, it must be an asset to the region (southern Africa). We are committed to finding a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis," he said.

In May, Moyo said Mugabe's government was committed to press freedom anddenied that new rules on accreditation of foreign journalists were designed to stifle the media.

The government said foreign journalists would have to apply for accreditation from the Information Ministry before entering Zimbabwe in what critics said was a move to limit coverage of the crisis-ridden country.

Previously, foreign journalists could enter the country first and then apply for accreditation.

Mugabe has over the past year described Zimbabwe's privately-owned media as pawns of the country's minority white community and his political opponents. - Nampa-Reuters

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