Zimbabwe Orders Aid Agencies to Cease Operations

Aid agencies working in Zimbabwe were ordered to suspend their operations in the field last night, accused of violating an agreement with the government

In a memo to aid agencies, Zimbabwe’s social welfare minister, Nicholas Goche, ordered them to “suspend all field operations until further notice”.

Earlier this week Zimbabwe ordered aid agency Care International to halt its operations pending an investigation into allegations that it was politically active.

The action came as Britain and the United States last night condemned Zimbabwe after a party of diplomats was held at a roadblock by an “armed mob” of troops and “war veterans” loyal to president Robert Mugabe.

The group of four Britons and five Americans was eventually released unharmed but a Zimbabwean driver employed locally by the US embassy in Harare was beaten up.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there had been no violence toward the Britons, but the tyres of one of the US vehicles were said to have been slashed and the people inside threatened that it would be set on fire.

The Zimbabwean High Commissioner in London was summoned to the Foreign Office to explain what happened and a similar summons was issued by the State Department to the ambassador in Washington.

“It is a serious incident and one we have to take seriously,” Mr Miliband told reporters.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the incident had

been “clearly organised” by

the Zimbabwean authorities.

“It is outrageous, it is unacceptable, and while this

immediate incident has been resolved it will not be forgotten,” he said.

He said the US would be raising the issue at the United Nations Security Council, as well as seeking out a Zimbabwean representative at the world food summit in Rome to protest.

The latest developments come as Zimbabwe prepares

for the run-off later this month between Mugabe

and Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, in the disputed presidential election.

British charities warned last night that a Zimbabwean government ban on all aid agency field work would be “extremely detrimental”.

The Africa specialist for Christian Aid, Judith Melby, said the move was “of deep concern” to all development charities.

She said: “You have to be very clear what we mean by field work.

“Clearly most agencies work in the cities, but we also work in the countryside, and that is considered field work.

“It is certainly going to have an extremely detrimental effect – it is quite frightening, frankly.”

Christian Aid has been involved in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, working with local organisations in the country.

Save the Children expressed fears about the impact the field work ban could have on the young people most in need of assistance.

Spokesman Dominic Nutt said: “Save the Children is seriously concerned about the consequences relating to reports of the suspension of aid operations in Zimbabwe, particularly for the most vulnerable children who we work with and who need our help.”

Some 10 million out of Zimbabwe’s population of 13 million live below the poverty line, and four million of them rely on food aid.

(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.