MEDIA REPORT: AMERICAN DELEGATION CRITICIZES U.S.

UNCLAS HARARE 002735 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 PHUM KPAO KMDR ZI SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT: AMERICAN DELEGATION CRITICIZES U.S. POSITION ON LAND REFORM IN ZIM; HARARE ¶1. The lead story in the December 2 edition of the government-controlled daily "The Herald" is based on a report released by a delegation of American elected officials after their two-week fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe. The report criticizes the United States' position on Zimbabwe's controversial land reform program. Under headline "U.S. stance on land rapped" the newspaper carried the following article: ¶2. "New York City councilors have attacked the U.S. Government for its position on Zimbabwe's land issue which they say is heavily influenced by a biased former colonial power, Britain. `We cannot expect Britain to have a neutral position on the land issue,' the councilors said in a report compiled after a two-week fact-finding tour in Zimbabwe. The report urges U.S. to immediately lift travel restrictions against government officials and help kick- start dialogue between Zimbabwe and Britain. `It would be difficult for the Zimbabwean officials to state their case to the world if they are restricted from traveling to other countries. How can the U.S. have dialogue with North Korea and Iraq, in the interest of peace, while preventing Zimbabwean officials from traveling to articulate their position?' The U.S., they said, was supposed to be neutral and help resolve the dispute between Zimbabwe and Britain instead of taking sides. `Without an independent U.S. position, it will be difficult to act as an honest broker,' they said. . .The councilors said they had found that there were double standards when Western countries, especially Britain and the U.S., talked about democracy and human rights in Africa. They called for increased commercial contacts and visits by ordinary Americans to Zimbabwe, including the media, to observe the changes occurring in the Southern African country. . . ." ¶3. Comment: Although the local media are referring to the group as a "delegation from the New York City Council," the fact-finding mission included other American elected officials. New York City Council members Charles Barron (D- Brooklyn) and James Davis (D-Brooklyn) were accompanied on their visit to Zimbabwe by New York State Assembly member Adam Clayton Powell IV (D-Harlem) and Illinois State Senator Donne Trotter (D-Chicago). The group was in country October 11-23, 2002. SULLIVAN