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The Bangkok Post March 21, 2002 Zimbabwe govt rejects 'fundamentally flawed' CWealth findings HARARE (AFP) -He also said the report "deliberately suppressed vital public information on the massive British and some EU countries' funding of the MDC over the last two years." The Commonwealth decision to suspend Zimbabwe was based on conclusions that were "fundamentally flawed," Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said. The Zimbabwe government rejects the findings, which "undermine the credibility of the Commonwealth," Mudenge told a press conference. Speaking the day after the Commonwealth announced the one-year suspension in London, Mudenge called on "all member countries to give urgent and active attention to the hijacking of the collective will of the Commonwealth to serve the hostile intentions of a few." The Commonwealth based its decision to suspend Zimbabwe on a report compiled by observers to last week's controversial presidential election returning longtime ruler Robert Mugabe to power. The decision was reached by a three-nation panel comprising Mugabe allies South Africa and Nigeria, plus Australia. The Commonwealth observers had found that the election did not reflect the true will of the voters, and had been held in a climate of fear following a systematic campaign of violence and intimidation against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of losing candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. Mudenge charged that the composition of the observer mission was "heavily influenced" by Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon of New Zealand and "those member countries who harbour well-known negative dispositions and hidden agendas against Zimbabwe." He also said the report "deliberately suppressed vital public information on the massive British and some EU countries' funding of the MDC over the last two years." Nor did the report mention the "bellicose saber-rattling by the British government and its allies in order to intimidate and frighten the people of Zimbabwe into voting against President Mugabe," Mudenge said. Departing from his prepared statement, the foreign minister then asked: "Who frightened who?" In answer to questions, Mudenge said the government had not been given a chance to respond to the full report by the observer mission, having seen only an interim report released last Thursday. "President Mbeki and President Obasanjo were confronted by this fraud report in London, a report on which we were not given the opportunity to comment. They were prisoners of a false report." His condemnation the report and its conclusions notwithstanding, Mudenge dismissed the impact of Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth. Mudenge said it was "like being savaged by a dead sheep," borrowing a phrase coined in 1978 by Britain's then chancellor of the exchequer Denis Healey on being attacked by conservative MP Geoffrey Howe over his budget proposals. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards® http://movies.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
