Mohadi says attack on Shiri 'act of terrorism'

Mohadi says attack on Shiri 'act of terrorism'

ATTACK: Zimbabwe Air Force Commander Perence Shiri

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Posted to the web: 16/12/2008 13:28:41
THE Zimbabwe government on Tuesday moved to confirm a botched assassination attempt on its Air Force Commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri, as exclusively revealed by New Zimbabwe.com on Monday.

Security has been boosted around top military officials following Shiri’s encounter with an undisclosed number of gunmen while going to his farm in Mashonaland West Province just after 8.30PM on Saturday.

Government officials say Shiri – an architect of post-independence mass killings in Matabeleland -- suffered a gunshot wound on his palm after he stopped his vehicle at the sound of gunfire and got out, thinking he had a puncture.

Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the attack on Shiri, who was alone at the time, appeared to be “a build-up of terror attacks targeting high-profile persons, government officials, government establishments and public transport systems”.

Zimbabwe’s opposition said it feared the Zimbabwe government would use the attack on Shiri to declare a state of emergency. Only on Monday, the Zimbabwe government accused Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement of Democratic Change (MDC) of training bandits in neighbouring Mozambique in preparation for “war” to effect “illegal regime change” in Zimbabwe.

Mohadi said the attack on Shiri, 53, “showed the assailants were well trained and there was a clear attempt to destabilise the country through acts of terrorism”.

The attempt on Shiri's life came only a fortnight after the death of the ruling Zanu PF's political commissar, Elliot Manyika, in a suspicious road accident. Manyika’s family maintains that he was murdered in internecine Zanu PF battles for political power.

The MDC, meanwhile, warns that President Robert Mugabe’s government is totting up alleged incidents of terrorism with the aim of declaring a state of emergency, suspending the constitution and launching a crackdown on opponents.

“This is a natural Zanu PF DNA,” said Tendai Biti, the party’s secretary general. “In 1982, Zanu PF planted arms at the homes and farms of Zapu members and they were arrested on trumped up charges including its leader Joshua Nkomo who had to skip the country to Botswana dressed as a woman in order to avoid arrest.

“Again in 1995, Zanu Ndonga leader, Ndabaningi Sithole, was arrested on false treason charges of trying to assassinate Robert Mugabe.

“These are works of fiction by a regime that has been cornered. Zanu PF wants to declare a state of emergency. This regime has failed. In fact the crackdown has already started.”

A power sharing agreement signed on September 15 is on the verge of unravelling as Tsvangirai’s MDC holds out for what it says are “key” cabinet portfolios, while Mugabe’s Zanu PF says it has made enough concessions.

As the stand-off continues, Professor Welshman Ncube, the secretary general of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara said state-sanctioned violence will persist.

“It's going to get worse," Ncube said. "As long as there is a political stalemate Zanu PF will move into default mode and use the only weapon it has left which is violence and coercion.

"It is in their nature. Killings, abductions and arrests are how they conduct political struggle."

The South African government has called for Tsvangirai to be sworn-in as Prime Minister, as part of the September 15 agreement, while a constitutional amendment giving force to the pact goes through parliament. Tsvangirai, meanwhile, remains in Botswana where he says he is not leaving before he is issued a passport by Zimbabwean authorities after his emergency travel document expired while he was out.

Perence Shiri was the commander of the North Koeran-trained 5 Brigade army unit which was deployed in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions in 1982 to hunt down alleged dissidents. At the end of its activities, in 1986, human rights groups say 20 000 civilians were dead, thousands more missing and others displaced.

Joshua Nkomo, the leader of Zapu which commanded massive support in the region, was forced into exile after he fled his home as Shiri’s death squads approached. Nkomo’s driver was not so lucky. He was shot at point blank range inside Nkomo’s Pelandaba home in Bulawayo.
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