Zanu PF: MDC UK ties 'treason'

Zanu PF: MDC UK ties 'treason'

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By Agencies

HEATED debate erupted in Zimbabwe's parliament on Tuesday when the ruling party said opposition MPs should be probed for treason for allegedly working with former colonial power Britain.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling party MPs last week said they wanted to investigate a recent statement by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that his government was working with Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

"I call for the MDC, and all members of the MDC, to be investigated, and if possible be charged with treason and suspended from parliament," Phillip Chiyangwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) told parliament.

He accused the MDC of working "in concert with foreign and dangerous powers - (including) Britain".

The debate came after Information Minister Jonathan Moyo last week revealed in parliament that Blair had told the British house of commons that his government was working "closely with the MDC on the measures that we should take in respect of Zimbabwe".

The ruling party said this was evidence that the MDC is a front for Britain, which it consistently accuses of wanting to oust the Mugabe government.

Britain, along with the United States and the European Union, have imposed targeted travel and financial restrictions on Mugabe and dozens of his close associates for alleged human rights abuses.

Opposition MP Tendai Biti, defending his party, has said the ruling party has only itself to blame for its "self-imposed sanctions through misgovernance and misrule".

Zimbabwe remains deeply politically divided and international efforts to broker conciliatory talks between the two sides have failed.
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