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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-02-2002

PART #4/4 - From SOUTH AFRICA to  ZIMBABWE

* South Africa. Mbeki resolute on AIDS stance — President Thabo Mbeki has used his annual state of the nation address to call for the moral regeneration of South Africa to combat the scourges of AIDS, crime and poverty. But he has once again dashed hopes that he will change the government’s heavily criticised policy on anti-retroviral drugs. Mr Mbeki said the key to fighting AIDS was public awareness and prevention and he again tied the struggle with the campaign against poverty and malnutrition. In his speech marking the new session of parliament in Cape Town, the president also refrained from any criticism of President Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe. The address is likely to disappoint a growing number of South Africans who have urged him to get tough on Zimbabwe and to change his policies on AIDS. The president said he was committed to an intensified fight against AIDS, but defended his policy of not making anti-retroviral drugs available to HIV-positive pregnant women in state hospitals. (BBC News, UK, 8 February 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Sida: Mandela s’insurge — Le 7 février, Nelson Mandela a critiqué les hésitations sud-africaines sur le traitement du sida, affirmant que la lutte contre la transmission du VIH de la mère à l’enfant est “centrale”. L’ancien président faisait référence aux doutes entretenus par le gouvernement, et en particulier le président Thabo Mbeki, sur le lien de causalité entre le VIH et le sida, sur l’efficacité des antirétroviraux et sur les moyens nécessaires. Une attitude de plus en plus critiquée par la presse, les Eglises, les syndicats et les médecins. Mandela a toutefois laissé entendre qu’un changement de cap était en vue: “Beaucoup de gens, en particulier au gouvernement,  réfléchissent très sérieusement aux remarques qui ont été faites”. Le président Mbeki a ainsi cessé, du moins publiquement, de mettre en cause le lien entre le VIH et le sida. Mais l’Etat est toujours critiqué pour son refus de généraliser les antirétroviraux, notamment la Nevirapine, qui empêche l’infection des enfants à naître, alors que 70.000 bébés naissent séropositifs chaque année en Afrique du Sud. - Par ailleurs, le 8 février, la Commission européenne a approuvé un programme de 50 millions d’euros afin d’aider l’Afrique du Sud à lutter contre le sida. Ce programme, qui s’étalera sur six ans, a été ciblé pour “les plus pauvres d’entre les pauvres”. Il est destiné à financer des aides aux communautés locales et à domicile, dans le cadre des soins de santé de base. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 février 2002)

* South Africa. South African bank’s accounts frozen — Deposits have been frozen at the eighth largest bank in Africa after bankruptcy fears spurred savers to withdraw more than 1bn rand ($87m) last week. Fears that Saambou Bank’s bad debts in its microlending business, which lends small sums to individuals and small businesses, could pull it under were growing among customers who were left unable to access their accounts. Saambou has a 5% share of the country’s retail savings market. The run on the bank led the central bank, South African Reserve Bank, to step in and place it under curatorship. Both the bank itself, several economists and the Registrar of Banks, Christo Wiese, insisted the Saambou remains solvent. But the Reserve Bank said panic withdrawals threatened to leave it with liquidity problems. The curator appointed by the Reserve Bank, John Louw, will look at the bank’s finances before savers will be told when they can once again access their accounts. The freezing of Saambou’s accounts came less than a month after the country’s number one retail bank, Absa, was hit by news that its small loans arm has run up 1.5bn rand in bad debts in the microlending segment. (BBC News, UK, 10 February 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Changements de noms — La province du Nord sud-africaine change de nom à partir de ce 14 février. Elle s’appelera désormais Limpopo. Son chef-lieu, Pietersburg, est rebaptisé Polokwane, qui signifie “lieu de sécurité”. (Misna, Italie, 14 février 2002)

* South Africa. Magistrates accused — The South African government is taking up to 28 magistrates to court in a civil action that accuses them of abusing several million pounds of public funds to install luxuries such as outside lounges and swimming pools at their homes and offices. The departments of public works and justice are suing «more than 20 magistrates» around the country and some contractors who they claim were involved in a costly swindle in which departmental concessions were used for luxuries instead of maintenance work as intended. The respected Afrikaans daily Beeld reported on 13 February that the crack police Scorpions unit was also investigating criminal charges of fraud and corruption against dozens of senior judicial figures. Beeld exposed the «lapa» (outside lounges) scandal four years ago, at the start of an official investigation into claims that magistrates or financial controllers in their offices abused a justice department concession allowing them to authorise up to 3,000 rand for critical maintenance work. «The investigation showed that some magistrates used the money to erect and fit luxury items such as “lapas”, electric gates, new carpets and swimming pools at official magistrates’ residences and offices under the guise of it being necessary maintenance,» Beeld reported. At some offices, thousands of invoices for small amounts were paid out for work worth millions. Now the state is ready to prosecute, two contractors and a financial controller have been arrested, summonses are being prepared and the High Court will be asked to order magistrates and contractors to repay the government «millions of rand». Judge Willem Heath, a former government corruption-buster involved in the initial investigation, said: «We will not rest before every cent owed the state is recovered from the magistrates and contractors.» (The Independent, UK, 14 February 2002)

* Sudan. Government attacks rebels — 7 February: A spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), said the government of Khartoum has not respected the cease-fire in the Nuba mountains and has blocked the arrival of international aid for the Nuba population. The spokesman said on 6 February, in Nairobi (Kenya), that government forces opened fire against rebel soldiers on 3 February, creating new hostilities and a climate of insecurity. There was no independent confirmation of the claim and no immediate comment from the government in Khartoum. Rebels in the mainly Christian or animist South, have been fighting the Islamic government in Khartoum for a greater autonomy since 1983. The conflict has since killed about 2 million people. The UN says hundreds of thousands of people are in desperate need of food and aid to survive. The cease-fire, which is renewable every six months, was reached in Switzerland during last January, between the SPLA and the government of Khartoum. The government of President Omar Hassan al Beshir had recently demonstrated particular interest in the cease-fire in the region, particularly aimed at restoring peace in the nation’s main oil zones in the State of El Ouahda (450km south-west of the capital). (MISNA, Italy, 7 February 2002)

* Sudan. Cardinal calls for protest campaign — One of the Holy See’s highest exponents proposed the launching of an international campaign of protest against Sudan for violating human rights. Cardinal Roberto Tucci, president of Vatican Radio’s administration committee, launched this initiative today when commenting on  the case of 18-year-old Christian Abok Alfa Akok, condemned to death by stoning for being pregnant out of wedlock. The woman says she had been raped. «For years in Sudan there has been authentic persecution by the Muslim government against the peoples of the south, black skins, of Christian or animist religion,» the Cardinal told Vatican Radio. «At the end of the year 2000, the civil war that began again in 1983 between the Arab Muslim north and the Christian, animist south, had cost the lives of some 2 million people,» he said. «The Shariah [Islamic law] has been applied to a person who is not Muslim,» he said. «It would be appropriate to start a campaign of protest against what is happening. Why doesn’t the UN intervene?» the Cardinal wondered. «The United Nations Commission for Human Rights is concerned with the case, but perhaps this action should be supported by an authentic international campaign that will serve to shed light on the Sudanese situation.» The first to support the Cardinal’s initiative was Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani, president of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). (Zenit, Italy, 7 February 2002)

* Soudan. Chrétienne graciée — Une chrétienne soudanaise de 18 ans, condamnée selon la charia à la lapidation pour être enceinte sans être mariée (voir En brefANB-BIA 2 février), a finalement été graciée, a annoncé la communauté Sant’Egidio à Rome. Une large campagne, soutenue notamment par Radio-Vatican, avait été menée en sa faveur. (La Croix, France, 12 février 2002)

* Sudan. UN protests at bombing — The UN food agency is to protest to Sudan after two children were killed by bombs dropped by a government plane near a food distribution point. The World Food Programme (WFP) said the incident took place on 11 February in the town of Akuem in the southern province of Bahr El Ghazal, where government troops are battling rebel forces. It said a 12-year-old girl and another child were killed and around a dozen people injured in the raid by a plane from the government side. «The WFP condemns firmly these bombings that have killed people (and) it will lodge an official protest with government authorities,» the United Nations agency said in a statement. «It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that food aid can be distributed in complete safety to the people who need it to survive,» it added. (CNN, USA, 13 February 2002)

* Soudan. Bombardements au Sud — Le 12 février, les Etats-Unis ont condamné fermement un bombardement de l’armée de l’air soudanaise survenu la veille contre des civils regroupés pour recevoir de l’aide alimentaire. Deux enfants avaient été tués. Le bombardement est survenu à Akuem (région du Bahr el-Ghazal) après qu’un appareil du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) venait de parachuter des vivres. “Cette attaque  horrible montre que la prise pour cible d’opérations civiles continue”, a déploré le porte-parole du département d’Etat, Richard Boucher. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 14 février 2002)

* Tanzania. Fighting US gem boycott — A Tanzanian mining industry delegation has left for Washington to try and persuade US jewellers to lift their boycott of the semi-precious gem, Tanzanite. The boycott was imposed after a Wall Street Journal article alleged that sales of the blue-to-violet gemstones were funding the al-Qaeda network. The mining industry in Tanzania — the only country in the world where the gemstone is found — has been hit hard by the boycott, announced last November. Minister for Energy and Minerals Edgar Maokola-Majogo is leading what his ministry is calling a «high-powered» delegation. A representative of the Tanzania Miners Association met the minister in the capital Dodoma this week, warning him that the boycott could effectively wipe out the Tanzanite industry. (BBC News, UK, 7 February 2002)

* Tanzania. African peacekeeping exercise — Sixteen African countries will join a French-led exercise to boost the continent’s peacekeeping skills to be held in Tanzania this month. More than 2,000 troops are due to join the manoeuvres from February 15 to 22 under the auspices of France’s Reinforcement of African Peacekeeping Capabilities scheme, as part of an initiative to improve coordination between the continent’s armies, French officers said. The exercises are to assist African governments to cope with crises in the field of political backlash, humanitarian or natural disasters like earthquakes. The French-led initiative coincides with an exercise by 3,000 US troops in Kenya this month to improve the US military’s cooperation with the east African country. Troops from France, Kenya, Madagascar and the 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which includes Tanzania, will participate in the exercise. Twelve navy ships including the amphibian Siroco, three ships from South Africa, three from Kenya, two from Tanzania and one from Madagascar will be involved in the exercises around the coastal cities of Dar Es Salaam and Tanga. The United States, Britain, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Canada are also taking part, while observer countries include China, Japan, India, Australia and Argentina. (CNN, USA, 7 February 2001)

* Tanzania/Mozambique. Winning US export rights — Tanzania and Mozambique have secured the right to export clothes duty-free to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) scheme. Tanzania was given approval on 11 February and Mozambique’s will be published shortly. Tanzania’s approval comes 18 months after it became eligible and began to implement  AGOA‘s strict conditions, which includes a system to verify the goods exported were actually produced in Tanzania. Under AGOA, countries can export unlimited amounts of apparel made from US textiles to the US without duty or quotas. Existing quotas on exporting locally produced fabrics to the US will also be enlarged. The US law also means that low-income countries like Tanzania and Mozambique can export some textile products made from cloth which they themselves have imported from countries other than the US. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 February 2002)

* Tanzania. Muslims in mosque riot — Rival groups of Muslims have held running battles with armed riot police around a mosque in the Tanzanian commercial capital of Dar es Salaam. The two groups had been at loggerheads over use of the Mwembechai mosque for a service to commemorate two Muslims who died in religious riots in 1998. Riot police surrounded the mosque early on the afternoon of 13 February to prevent what they termed a possibly volatile situation. But violence flared after members of the so-called Ponda group gathered in the area with the intention of holding special prayers without the permission of the group currently occupying the mosque. Correspondents say police with batons arrested and beat scores of Muslims and used teargas in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Police sealed off the area, saying they expected to spend the night outside the mosque to ensure that demonstrators did not return. It was unclear how many people had been injured in the rioting. (BBC News, UK, 14 February 2002)

* Tchad/UE. Nouvel accord de coopération — Le 11 février, l’Union européenne et le Tchad ont signé un accord de coopération portant sur la période 2002-2007 pour un montant de 202 millions d’euros. Le nouvel accord vise à appuyer les efforts du gouvernement tchadien dans la mise en oeuvre de sa politique globale de réduction de la pauvreté. Les crédits non remboursables accordés dans le cadre de cet accord sont destinés à la réalisation de plusieurs objectifs dans le secteur routier et l’eau, l’appui à la société civile, au programme d’appui à la bonne gouvernance et à l’Etat de droit. L’aide financière servira aussi d’appui au secteur macro-économique afin d’assurer la compensation de la diminution des recettes d’exportation du Tchad après l’abandon du système de stabilisation des recettes d’exportations agricoles (Stabex). (PANA, Sénégal, 11 février 2002)

* Tunisie. Grève massive des avocats — La parodie de procès qui a abouti à la condamnation à neuf ans de prison de l’opposant Hamma Hammani, le 2 février, a eu de sévères répercussions pour le régime de Zine Ben Ali. Le 7 février, les avocats tunisiens ont, selon leur conseil de l’ordre, “massivement” observé la grève décidée pour protester contre les conditions de ce procès, au cours duquel la police a fait brutalement  irruption pour arrêter les prévenus. Sur plus de 2.000 inscrits dans le Grand Tunis, 24 avocats seulement n’ont pas suivi le mouvement. La grève aurait en outre été suivie à 100% dans les villes de Beja, de Gabès et de Sfax. Les autorités ont qualifié ce mouvement d’“illégal” et annoncé un recours en justice contre la grève. (Libération, France, 8 février 2002)

* Tunisie. Référendum constitutionnel — Le mercredi soir, 13 février, le président Ben Ali a annoncé, dans une déclaration radio-télévisée, l’organisation prochaine d’un référendum sur la réforme de la Constitution, qu’il avait initiée le 7 novembre dernier, date marquant l’anniversaire de son accession au pouvoir en 1987. M. Ben Ali a assuré que la réforme envisagée “confère aux libertés et aux droits de l’homme une place privilégiée”. Il s’agira notamment de renforcer les garanties judiciaires. Au plan législatif, il est prévu d’instituer un système bicaméral. Mais l’axe important de l’amendement proposé est celui relatif aux élections présidentielles, où serait introduit un scrutin à deux tours. La réforme stipule aussi “la possibilité de renouvellement de la candidature à la présidence de la République, tout en maintenant la clause de l’âge maximum pour l’égilibilté”, à savoir 70 ans. M. Ben Ali aura 68 ans à la date des prochaines élections présidentielles, prévues en 2004. Il aura alors achevé son troisième et dernier mandat selon les dispositions actuelles de la Constitution. (D’après AP, 14 février 2002)

* Uganda. The Bujagali Dam — The two American groups opposed to the construction of the Bujagali Dam say that the groundbreaking for the project on 24 January does not mark the end of their campaign. «We’ll follow the impact of the project and we’ll hold the funders accountable for the promises they made to the local people,» says Ms Carol Welch, acting director of international programmes for Friends of the Earth. Ms Lori Pottinger, Africa programmes director for the International Rivers Network, says the group will monitor construction of the dam and its eventual operation. Ugandan officials say the dam will generate 10,000 jobs and alleviate chronic energy shortages that are said to cost the country 90 working days per year. (The East African, Kenya, 4-10 February 2002)

* Uganda. Uganda blamed for on-going war in Congo RDC — 7 February: The United Nations has blamed Uganda for the ongoing war in a north-eastern province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. UN Congo representative Amos Namanga Ngongi said Uganda had failed to contain clashes in Ituri province, which is under its control. Mr Ngongi told a news conference in Kinshasa that it was up to Uganda to restore peace in the area, where a power struggle between two Ugandan-backed rebel factions has led to violent ethnic clashes in the past few weeks. Two  weeks ago, troops loyal to Jean Pierre Bemba captured the town of Isiro and the gold mine of Bafwasende — some 350 kilometres west of the Ugandan border - from another rebel group. Both groups have been armed and trained by the Ugandan army. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 February 2002)

* Zambia. Newspaper editor arrested — The editor of Zambia’s only privately owned newspaper has been briefly detained by police and charged with defaming President Levy Mwanawasa. The arrest of Fred M’membe, editor of The Post, followed the publication last week of a story which quoted an opposition lawmaker as saying Mr Mwanawasa was a «cabbage.» The police have also issued a summons for Dipak Patel, the opposition lawmaker quoted in the Post article. The description of the president became commonplace among opposition leaders during the run up to December’s elections, which they say were rigged. The president is prone to verbal slip-ups and suffered from poor health following a road accident 10 years ago. The Post reported that Mr M’membe told the arresting officer that the charge was a «sheer waste of his time. Such a stupid charge can only be originated by senseless people with nothing, or very little, to do,» he was quoted as saying. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. MPs tortured in new wave of terror — Three Zimbabwean opposition MPs campaigning for next month’s elections have been abducted, beaten and tortured for two days by supporters of President Robert Mugabe in a remote town, according to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The three were paraded, injured and bleeding, wearing handcuffs in front of the police station in Nkayi yesterday while 37 other opposition party officials and supporters were also held, the MDC says. The attack marks an escalation of political violence in the run-up to the poll. Until now, the ruling Zanu-PF‘s militia has reserved its attacks for less prominent opponents. The MDC also says at least four party supporters have been beaten to death this week, and a new wave of political terror is sweeping through Matabeleland in southern Zimbabwe, a key area of opposition support. The three politicians — Abednico Bhebhe, MP for Nkayi, Peter Nyoni, MP for Victoria Falls, and Joel Gabuza, MP for Binga — led a convoy to distribute leaflets for Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader who is challenging Mr Mugabe in the presidential poll on March 9 and 10. The tires of their cars were shot at by soldiers and they were attacked by Mr Mugabe’s youth militia working with the army, according to local residents. Mr Bhebhe was among those seriously injured, said the residents. The MPs and other MDC officials were eventually taken to the Nkayi police station where they were interrogated and held overnight on Wednesday. Some of the MDC members were taken to the local hospital yesterday and returned to the police station, say the  residents. (The Guardian, UK, 8 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Vers la présidentielle — 10 février. L’Union européenne a placé le Zimbabwe devant le fait accompli en envoyant à Harare M. Pierre Schori, le chef suédois de ses observateurs à la présidentielle des 9 et 10 mars, malgré le veto du président Mugabe à la présence d’observateurs de la Suède, de la Finlande, du Danemark, de la Grande-Bretagne, d’Allemagne et des Pays-Bas, pays accusés de soutenir l’opposition. M. Schori est arrivé le dimanche soir, 10 février, mais n’a pas été accrédité par les autorités. Si Harare décidait d’expulser l’envoyé suédois, les Quinze pourraient décider d’imposer les “sanctions ciblées” dont ils menacent depuis fin janvier le régime de Mugabe. -11 février. Le lundi matin, des cocktails Molotov ont été lancés sur un bureau provincial du seul quotidien privé zimbabwéen, le Daily News, et sur les locaux d’une entreprise qui a imprimé du matériel de campagne de l’opposition. Il n’y a pas eu de victimes. - Le 12 février, le président Mugabe a déclaré à Gutu (sud) son intention de se retirer du pouvoir après avoir distribué les terres aux paysans noirs. Il a dit avoir changé ses projets de départ à la retraite pour assurer aux Noirs sans terres des moyens économiques. Le vieux leader (78 ans dans une semaine) n’a pas précisé la date de son départ. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13 février 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Lead-up to poll — 11 February: The head of a team of European Union election monitors has arrived in Zimbabwe despite warnings from the government there that he could be barred from observing next month’s vote. Pierre Schori, a former Swedish Government minister, flew into Harare after Zimbabwe’s announcement last week that it would not accept observers from six EU countries, including Sweden. The EU has threatened sanctions against Zimbabwe if its monitors are not granted full access to the elections. Mr Schori arrived saying he expected to carry out his work despite the objections from President Robert Mugabe’s government. «I intend to do my job properly, together with my team here, which is highly professional and will work in an unbiased manner,» Mr Schori said. His first task will be to seek accreditation from the authorities. If he is denied that, or if he or his team are barred access to parts of the country or parts of the campaign, the EU has said it will impose sanctions. 12 February: A team of 30 election observers from the European Union is due in Zimbabwe, today, but it is still not clear if they will have a role to play. Nine European countries had been told they could come to observe the presidential election next month, but only in an individual capacity. 13 February: The much-hyped confrontation between the Zimbabwe government and the European Union observer mission seems destined to end in a soggy compromise. Zimbabwe government officials  were yesterday holding fast to their demand that delegates from six «hostile» EU countries be barred from the mission. In theory, this includes Pierre Schori, the chairman, a former Swedish government minister who is already in the country but who has not yet managed to accredit himself with the authorities. After a day of what an EU spokesman called «intense contacts» with the Zimbabwe government, the EU appeared to be in retreat. On 11 February, Mr Schori had insisted that composition of the EU observer mission was not negotiable. But on 12 February, the unofficial word was that with the exception of Mr Schori himself, none of the 30 long-term observers would come from the six «biased» countries -– the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. — The head of the Commonwealth observer mission for the elections, Nigeria’s Abdusalami Abubakar, says his mission is there to assist Zimbabwe, not to tell it what to do. —The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has joined other civic bodies in condemning the violence that has gripped the country in the run-up to the general elections. 14 February: A significant number of white Zimbabweans are receiving letters from the registrar-general telling them they cannot vote in the presidential elections because they have renounced their citizenship. The most high profile casualty is Garfield Todd, the 93-year-old former prime minister of Southern Rhodesia in the 1950s. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Harare reporter accused of lying — The following report appeared in “The Guardian” on 12 February: «Africa’s leading press freedom organisation has accused The Independent‘s correspondent in Zimbabwe of fabricating an account of a “terrifying” night in a police cell after his arrest last week under the country’s draconian new security laws. Basildon Peta‘s story generated international protests and prompted the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, to warn it could trigger sanctions against Harare. But the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) says Peta did not spend a night in the cells and that his account in The Independent was false. Yesterday, Peta admitted he was allowed home for several hours on the night he was detained, but said he was still in custody for more than 12 hours and that he withheld his temporary release from his account in order to protect the policemen involved. MISA said it has drawn attention to irregularities in Peta’s account because Harare uses untruthful stories to justify media curbs. “In our struggle, it is of utter importance that we remain truthful and faithful so that we do not open ourselves to unnecessary criticism and give grounds and justification for further repression,” it said. Peta, who chairs the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), was questioned by police after he led a protest by journalists against new curbs on the media. Under the new security law, police must have four days’ notice before a public  gathering. In The Independent, he described what the paper called his “terrifying” night in a cell. (...) MISA said Peta was not held in the cells at all, but arrived voluntarily at the police station at 2pm where his lawyer argued that the ZUJ had not needed permission for the journalists’ demonstration. MISA says Peta was released at around 7pm. The next day, Peta and his lawyer visited the attorney general, who said he would not be pressing charges. MISA spokesman Raashweat Mukundu said: “We wanted to correct a misrepresentation because it was becoming the subject of a lot of other issues. The EU, Jack Straw, were deciding policy based on this. If there is to be any policy toward the government, it must be on the basis of the truth.” (...) The Independent‘s foreign editor, Leonard Doyle, yesterday defended Peta’s account». On 13 February, “The Independent” replied with an article by Basildon Peta asserting that basically, his account of what happened to him when arrested, was true.: «The last thing I expected in my fight for press freedom in Zimbabwe was to trigger a media meltdown in London that would hand ammunition to the Harare government for its persecution of independent journalists». Peta goes on to explain that he had persuaded the detectives assigned to his case to take him home so that he could pick up medication he needed for his stomach ulcers. At their request he agreed not to disclose that they had accompanied him home. He was back at the police station at 3.a.m. «I do not need either to exaggerate or fabricate anything about the sorry state of affairs in Zimbabwe, about the difficult circumstances within which the press in my country is operating, or indeed about my own situation». (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 February 2002)