US embassy cable - 03HARARE1378

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