GOVERNMENT WITNESS IMPLICATES U.S.

UNCLAS HARARE 000264

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/S, AF/PDPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO PREL ZI
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT WITNESS IMPLICATES U.S.
GOVERNMENT IN ALLEGED ASSASSINATION PLOT

REF: Harare 259, Harare 230


1. The February 6 edition of the government-owned
"Herald" newspaper reports that Ari Ben-Menashe, the
government's star witness in the treason trial of
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two other
opposition leaders, claimed in court that he believed
the U.S. Government knew of the alleged assassination
plot against Robert Mugabe and that he believed that a
participant in one of his meetings with Tsvangirai was
a CIA official. The "Herald" plays these claims to
the hilt, running the page-one story under the banner
headline "Key Witness Names CIA." Copies of the
article have been faxed to AF/S and AF/PDPA.


2. According to Mr. Ben Menashe, participants in
the alleged conspiracy to rid Zimbabwe of Robert
Mugabe now include former President Clinton, the
"Jewish community in America" and the CIA, among a
long and generalized list of other groups and
individuals. Mr. Ben-Menashe offers Defense attorney
George Bizos fertile ground for cross-examination.

SULLIVAN