US embassy cable - 04HARARE1518

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Identifier:	04HARARE1518
Wikileaks:	View 04HARARE1518 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Harare
Created:	2004-09-08 15:33:00
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Tags:	PGOV KPAO SOCI ZI
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 001518 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, KPAO, SOCI, ZI 
SUBJECT: THE DIVINE COMRADE M 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.5 b 
 
1.  (U) An op-ed piece in the September 1 edition of the 
GOZ-controlled Herald newspaper declared President Mugabe to 
have been divinely appointed.  Drawing from the books of 
Daniel, Romans, Amos, Timothy and John, the rambling piece 
suggests that God speaks to Mugabe (COMMENT: but, inquiring 
minds want to know, does Mugabe listen?) and that Mugabe's 
public addresses are prophetic (COMMENT: if tedious). 
Critics of the President are therefore defying God, and 
attacks on the head of state are attacks on "the church."  An 
editorial on the same page, "Bill on NGOs, Churches Timely," 
identifies the culprits, castigating the leadership of the 
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) and other religious 
leaders for working with NGOs and others critical of the GOZ. 
 
 
2.  (C) COMMENT: Like many rulers before him, President 
Mugabe seems increasingly obsessed with legacy issues as he 
ages.  Now past 80, Mugabe has seen many friends and comrades 
pass away.  The op-ed piece offers a window into how his 
courtiers flatter him as his inevitable end approaches - 
mixing religion and politics in an absurd yet dangerous 
formula. 
Dell