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U.S.
Involved in Plot to Kill Mugabe, Zimbabwe Court Hears
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U.S.
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Joe Sullivan, attempts to persuade a
Zimbabwean police officer to allow him entry to the Harare High
Court
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HARARE,
February 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A key witness in the
treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Wednesday, February 5, hinted that the U.S. government was involved in
an alleged plot to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.
Tsvangirai
and two senior officials from his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
party are accused of plotting to kill Mugabe and overthrow the
Zimbabwe government ahead of last year’s presidential elections.
The
state’s case hinges on a videotape recording of a meeting Tsvangirai
held in Montreal with political consultancy Dickens and Madson in
December 2001, where the opposition leader is alleged to have
requested Mugabe’s elimination.
The
key state witness in the case, Ari Ben Menashe, the head of Dickens
and Madson, told the court Tuesday that a senior official from the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Edward Simms, attended that
meeting, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
On
Wednesday, the court heard a section of the four-and-a-half-hour tape
in which Ben Menashe, gesturing towards Tsvangiari, said: “Work has
been done on your behalf to get stuff through Congress, work has been
done to get these guys (the CIA) on your side to do the elimination on
your behalf.”
It
is not clear from evidence, provided so far, whether Simms is part of
the CIA, as Ben Menashe claims. The defense has said Simms was not the
CIA deputy director for Africa.
Paul
Nowack, a spokesman for the CIA in Washington, told AFP: “We don’t
comment on whether people work for us or not.”
The
soundtrack on the black and white video shown in court was barely
audible. On the first day of screening the court only watched the
first half hour of the tape, repeatedly rewinding to listen again to
parts that were hard to hear.
The
MDC has said it never requested Dickens and Madson to eliminate
Mugabe, and did not know the company was linked to the Zimbabwe
government.
Indeed,
on the section of the tape watched by the court on Tuesday, Tsvangirai
was heard to say: “The discussion was never about the elimination of
Mugabe, it was about the election, and the post-election outcome.”
However,
Ben Menashe has insisted in court that he had clear instructions from
Tsvangirai to assassinate Mugabe and help stage a military coup.
Jointly
charged with Tsvangirai are the MDC’s Secretary General, Welshman
Ncube, and shadow agriculture minister, Renson Gasela.
All
three deny the charges, which carry the death penalty on conviction.
They
say they were set up by Dickens and Madson in a bid to sideline
Tsvangirai, who has emerged as the most significant threat to Mugabe
since he came to power 23 years ago.
Ben
Menashe said he informed the Zimbabwean authorities of the opposition
leader’s alleged request, and supplied them with a copy of the
video.
The
former Israeli intelligence agent Menashe said he had been to Zimbabwe
several times before the alleged plot and knew some people in the
government.
Court
Struggles to Hear Evidence
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Tsvangirai
was heard to say: “The discussion was never about the
elimination of Mugabe…”
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On Tuesday, the court struggled to hear the bad quality videotape
showing that Tsvangirai committed high treason by plotting to
assassinate Mugabe.
Ben
Menashetold the court that Tsvangirai had clearly asked him to help
kill Mugabe ahead of presidential elections last year.
But
in the videotape shown by prosecutors on the second day of the trial,
Tsvangirai was heard to say: “The discussion was never about the
elimination of Mugabe, it was about the election, and the
post-election outcome.”
Tsvangirai’s
lawyer, renowned South African attorney, George Bizos, asked the judge
to take note of the statement, as it is “the one intelligible bit of
the tape.”
The
defense argues that a tape shown on television in which Tsvangirai is
held to discuss eliminating Mugabe was heavily edited and used to
frame the opposition leader.
The
afternoon hearing was taken up by painstaking viewing of discussions
between Ben Menashe, his associates and Tsvangirai held in December
2001. Much of the tape is barely audible.
Ben
Menashe appeared uncomfortable during the hearing, frequently mopping
his face.
The
high-profile trial began Monday amid scenes of tension as riot police
tried to bar journalists, diplomats and opposition supporters from
entering the court.
While
police were out in force Tuesday, all those who wanted to gained
access to the court.
Earlier,
Ben Menashe alleged he “clearly heard that Tsvangirai was proposing
that Dickens and Madson help him and his colleagues carry out the
assassination of the President of Zimbabwe and a coup d’etat.”
Nearly
a dozen state witnesses are expected to testify in the trial.
The
three MDC officials are said to have held several meetings with Ben
Menashe and his associates in London and Montreal in late 2001, before
they realized that Ben Menashe was linked to Mugabe’s government.
A
500,000 US dollar contract was signed after one of the London
meetings, Menashe said.
“The
understanding in this contract was that we will help eliminate, kill
the president of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe, help them with a coup
d’etat, with the help of the commander of the air force and help put
together a government of national unity,” Menashe said.
Ben
Menashe claimed that Tsvangirai told him that “Mugabe will not leave
office unless he is taken away in a coffin”.
He
said he and his colleagues decided to report the matter to the
Zimbabwe and Canadian authorities.
Earlier
Tuesday, Ben Menashe was cautioned against trivializing the court when
he said Tsvangirai at one time asked him how beautiful the inside of
the Zimbabwe state house was, since he had been there before.
“I
think he was enquiring about his future house,” he said. The defense
raised objections to the statement.
“The
witness is clowning in the witness box. This is a court of law not a
place of entertainment,” George Bizos said.
Judge
Paddington Garwe told Ben Menashe to be “serious and use appropriate
language”.
Menashe
said he has been to Zimbabwe several times before the plot and knew
some people in the government from the time he was lobbying the
Zimbabwe government on behalf of another foreign government.
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