A Zimbabwean military commander and ally of President Robert Mugabe was shot in an assassination attempt at the weekend, state media said yesterday.
Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi was quoted in the state-controlled Herald newspaper as saying the attack that wounded Air Force Commander Perence Shiri on Saturday appeared to be part of attacks against high-profile figures designed to destabilize the country.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alleges that Shiri and several military commanders led a violent election run-off campaign in June that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted over attacks on his supporters.
“The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks targeting high-profile persons, government officials, government establishments and public transportation systems,” Mohadi was quoted as saying.
Shiri was shot on the way to his farm that was seized from a white commercial farmer in 2000. He escaped with a gunshot wound and is recovering at a Harare hospital.
Mugabe’s government has in the past accused the MDC of terror tactics as part of a campaign to remove the veteran leader, who has been in power since 1980.
Dozens of MDC members have been arrested on terror charges but have been cleared by the courts. The MDC says Mugabe uses the charges when under pressure, especially from Western foes who are calling on him to step down over a humanitarian crisis.
A cholera epidemic and Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown have drawn new calls from Mugabe’s Western foes for the resignation of the 84-year-old leader, who has ruled since independence in 1980.
The UN said on Monday the death toll from cholera had risen to nearly 1,000.
Prospects for rescuing Zimbabwe appear slim while Mugabe and Tsvangirai remain deadlocked over their Sept. 15 power-sharing deal.
State media said at the weekend that Zimbabwe might be forced to hold a new election if a constitutional bill to set up the new government failed to get through parliament, where Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party lost its majority in March.
The MDC said it was ready to take part in any new election, but only if held under international supervision. Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in the first round of a presidential vote but withdrew from a run-off, citing attacks on his supporters.
Mugabe’s government says the cholera outbreak is a calculated attack by former colonial ruler Britain and the US, describing it as “biological warfare” to create an excuse to mobilize military action against Zimbabwe.
“Alarmed” by the spiraling crisis, Canada called on Monday for “the urgent engagement” of regional leaders.
“Canada is alarmed by the worsening humanitarian, economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe, which is claiming the lives of more Zimbabweans every day and threatening the stability of the region,” said Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.
Noting that basic services have collapsed as a result of the government breakdown, Cannon said he was “deeply concerned over the recent return to a pattern of human-rights abuses and abductions.”
He cited the abductions of more than a dozen members of the MDC, and of Zimbabwe Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko and two of her colleagues.
“Canada calls for the urgent engagement of regional leaders in this crisis,” added Cannon, stressing that the African Union and the Southern Africa Development Community “have an important role to play in ensuring the implementation of a solution that respects the will of the Zimbabwean people.”
Canadian humanitarian aid and civil society support will continue, Cannon said, adding that the country has provided close to US$10 million in assistance to Zimbabwe since July last year.
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) announced on Monday it would provide up to US$500,000 to reduce shipping costs for life-saving medicine, including antibiotics and oral rehydration salts for children, to Zimbabwe.
Some Western council members said they hope to make a fresh push for adoption of such a non-binding statement next month when South Africa will no longer sit on the council.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, proposed on Thursday that Zimbabwe’s neighbors, particularly South Africa, close their borders with the country.
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