March 2001 Africa News Headlines

Friday, March 23, 2001 - Web posted at 12:43:24 PM GMT

Zim grants Mengistu permanent residence

HARARE - Zimbabwe has granted permanent residence to former Ethiopian strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam who fled to the southern African country a decade ago, government officials said yesterday.

The officials confirmed a report by the independent Financial Gazette newspaper on Thursday that President Robert Mugabe's government had given Mengistu and seven members of his clan permanent residence this week."

"The report is right, but I don't think it's right to discuss details," a government official told Reuters.

The Financial Gazette said Mengistu - who holds a Zimbabwean diplomatic passport and lives in a heavily-guarded mansion in Harare - had been granted permanent residence by Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo.

Nkomo was not available for comment yesterday.

The Financial Gazette quoted immigration sources as saying seven other members of Mengistu's clan - including children, cousins and nephews - were also granted permanent residence.

Mugabe, a close friend of the former Ethiopian dictator, has refused calls from Addis Ababa to extradite Mengistu to face charges that he committed atrocities during his 17-year rule.

The government has said it gave refuge to Mengistu in 1991 because he helped train and arm fighters of Mugabe's ZANU-PF movement during Zimbabwe's war of independence in the 1970s.

In a rare 1999 interview with a South African newspaper, Mengistu defended his revolution and denied that he had committed crimes against humanity.

- Nampa-Reuters

•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Hazel's got Africa cooking!