Zimbabwe: 'war veterans' break up church meeting
A meeting in the midland town of Kwe Kwe, called by the Christian Alliance, a coalition of churches working for political change in Zimbabwe, was violently broken up last week. Organisers were planning to set up a women's group. War veterans, armed with axes and sticks, stormed the Catholic Church Parish in Redcliff and ordered the meeting to stop. They also threatened to kidnap Father Mapfumo, who presides over the Catholic Church in Redcliff. Useni Sibanda, a spokesman for the Alliance said: "War veterans disrupted the launch and threatened local pastors with death if they allowed the launch to proceed. We cancelled the event because they were threatening to beat up women who would attend the launch. They also threatened Father Mapfumo and said he should not dare allow the launch to take place in his church," Sibanda said. * The BBC reports that 200 people were arrested by police in a raid on the head office of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change in Harare on Saturday. Officers did not have a search warrant. Many were freed but 84 were still in custody, without charge, yesterday. Source: ZW News/BBC