MEDIA REACTION POWELL OP-ED ON ZIM UNDER FIRE;

UNCLAS HARARE 001378 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 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 REACTION POWELL OP-ED ON ZIM UNDER FIRE; HARARE ¶1. The lead article in the June 27 edition of the government-controlled daily "The Herald" and an op-ed in the same edition collectively criticize Secretary of State Colin Powell for writing an op-ed column in the "New York Times" criticizing Robert Mugabe's government. Excerpts follow: ¶2. Under headline "Fuel talks continue: Leaders attack U. S.' renewed onslaught against Harare" the "The Herald" (06/27) carried the following article by Itai Musengengeyi, who filed the report from Tripoli, Libya where Robert Mugabe is consumed in bilateral talks with his counterpart Colonel Muammar Gadaffi: "President Mugabe and his Libyan counterpart Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. . .on their first round of consultations on Wednesday. . .noted with concern the United States' renewed onslaught on Zimbabwe and agreed that the AU Summit should unambiguously condemn Western imperialism. This followed U. S. Secretary of State Mr. Colin Powell's criticism of Zimbabwe's land reform, which he claimed had not benefited ordinary people. . . ." ¶3. Under headline "Keep your aid, U. S.: West, MDC peddling lies on Zimbabwe" the same newspaper carried the following op-ed on page 27 by an unnamed "correspondent": "I have always asked how much Zimbabwe is worth. Is it worth the filthy American dollars Colin Powell is now promising gullible and useless Zimbabweans so that they betray President Mugabe? My answer is that Zimbabwe is worth much more than Powell is promising us in the form of aid. . .Powell is relying on lies from the U. S. and British embassies in Harare and also from the sellouts in the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change). The violence he talks about is being perpetrated by the MDC and not the government of Zimbabwe. . .Powell is the worst hypocrite I have ever seen. He dances to the tune of his masters. U. S. President George Bush knows that if he talks too much on Zimbabwe it would be viewed as racism and he sends his Uncle Tom in the form of Powell to do his dirty work. What a shame. . .To Powell, we say keep your filthy dollars to yourself and we will keep our country. . .Keep your aid and channel it to the families of those whose bread-winners were killed in Iraq after you lied to the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. . . ." SULLIVAN