MEDIA REPORT U. S./U. K. UNDER FIRE, HARARE

UNCLAS HARARE 002707 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA, AF/PDPA NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT U. S./U. K. UNDER FIRE, HARARE ¶1. Under headline "Are the U.K. and U.S. moving against Zimbabwe7" the independent daily the "The Daily News" published a November 25 op-ed by "Ann Talbotr" (sic) accusing the United States and Britain of "using starvation. . .as a means of tightening their grip on Africa." Excerpts: ¶2. "Amid speculation about the possible actions of the Britain and the United States, Zimbabwe's petrol pumps have run dry, deepening the crisis already caused by the famine and threatening emergency food deliveries. . . Whatever form the intervention takes, it will represent an implicit threat to the whole of Africa. The increasingly belligerent attitude of the Bush administration towards Zimbabwe follows its attempts to establish much greater control over the oil reserves of West Africa. The conclusion that Africa faces a new wave of imperial expansion is inescapable. It is a threat that Mugabe and other African nationalist leaders are incapable of averting... His [Bush'sl political thuggery and manipulation of food aid have only served to provide a pretext for intervention... The U.S. and U.K. are blaming Mugabe for the situation in Zimbabwe, but they have done nothing to alleviate the hunger in these other countries where Mugabe cannot be held responsible. Instead the imperialist powers are using starvation. for which they are largely responsible, as a means of tightening their grip on Africa. The present famines are the direct result of International Monetary Fund policies that have left African governments unable to buy food that is in plentiful supply outside the re&ions immediately hit by drou&ht and wars, which have been fomented by the West." ¶3. [omment. The ill-informed, anti-West sentiments in this op-ed are not standard fare for the independent "Daily News." End comment. SULLIVAN