US embassy cable - 02HARARE2106

UNCLAS HARARE 002106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KPAO, ZI 
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT PAPER SAYS U.S. IS FINANCING "ANTI- 
GOVERNMENT NGOS" 
 
 
  1.   The September 17 edition of the government- 
      controlled daily Bulawayo "Chronicle" carries a page- 
      one, above-the-fold story entitled "Unholy alliance: 
      Washington finances anti-government NGOs."  Excerpts 
      follow. 
 
  2.   "The U.S. Government is assisting non- 
      governmental organizations in Zimbabwe to open off- 
      shore accounts in the British Isles so that they can 
      circumvent exchange control regulations and conceal 
      their sources of funding, `Chronicle' learnt this 
      week.  The Open Society Institute for Southern Africa 
      (OSISA), funded by Hungarian-born American 
      billionaire, Mr. George Soros, has been financing 
      pirate radio stations in Zimbabwe in a bid to 
      destabilize the country. Investigations by `Chronicle' 
      have revealed that the U.S. Agency for International 
      Development (USAID) has, through an agent identified 
      as Brett Hurst, been assisting NGOs to open off-shore 
      accounts in the British Isles where millions of 
      dollars in `aid' have been wired to Zimbabwe.  Mr. 
      David Lush, the OSISA representative in Southern 
      Africa, has been coordinating financing for anti- 
      government NGOs from his base in Johannesburg. 
 
      "`Chronicle' has established that America 
      played a pivotal role in financing anti- 
      government pirate radio stations with its 
      destabilization wing - the Office of 
      Transitional Initiatives (OTS) - heavily 
      involved in fanning `hate propaganda' prior to 
      the March presidential elections.  Two U.S. 
      senators also secretly slipped into the country 
      in June last year and met representatives of 
      the Radio Dialogue Trust FM at a Bulawayo 
      hotel.  Three nationals, Messrs Eden Egan from 
      PACT - an arm of USAID, Hurst and Scott (from 
      the OTI) - have been instrumental in 
      coordinating NGO activity in the country.  The 
      U.S. government has announced it is working 
      with South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana to 
      topple the government of Zimbabwe.  But the 
      three Southern African states have flatly 
      denied the claims. . .  Sources alleged that 
      Mr. Hurst is an agent of USAID and assists NGOs 
      to open offshore accounts so that they can 
      circumvent exchange control regulations and 
      conceal their sources of funding. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN