ZIMBABWEAN politicians on both sides of the divide braced for more disclosures from leaked secret American diplomatic files this week after it emerged the whistle blower website, Wikileaks, would be releasing 3,000 cables from the United States embassy in Harare to Washington going back to 1966.
Bristling over the unauthorised release of more than a quarter million classified State Department documents, the United States on Monday ordered a government-wide review of how agencies safeguard sensitive information.
The weekend release of documents reflecting, in some cases, unflattering assessments of world leaders has caused embarrassment to the administration.
By late Monday, Wikileaks had put online just over 240 files of its massive data collection.
Among the documents released was a cable sent by the United States’ former ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell in which he wrote in detail about his country’s efforts to prop-up opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai while seeking to “do in” President Robert Mugabe.
Calling Mugabe a “devil”, he also expressed frustrations that Tsvangirai, now Prime Minister, was “not readily open to advice” and suggested he was not fit to govern.
He also launched an astonishing attack on Welshman Ncube, a key figure in one of the MDC factions, whom he suggested should be “pushed off the stage”.
Figures provided by the website show that it has a total of 2,998 files on Zimbabwe -- 1,542 of which are ‘classified’, 1,417 ‘unclassified’ and 39 labelled ‘secret’.
Wikileaks says it will release the documents in dribs and drabs over the coming weeks and months.
A senior Zanu PF official in Harare told New Zimbabwe.com: “You just don’t know what’s coming next. If these documents go back to 1980, it’s likely there would be something in there embarrassing for the party.”
Nelson Chamisa, the spokesman for the Tsvangirai-led MDC, said: “Just like every other political party in the world, we are watching the same space with interest.”