Harare curbs on press to go ahead

AFRICA: Zimbabwe's parliament yesterday approved a law limiting the freedoms of the independent and foreign press ahead of presidential…

AFRICA: Zimbabwe's parliament yesterday approved a law limiting the freedoms of the independent and foreign press ahead of presidential elections in March.

The tough media bill became the third piece of legislation passed during January and seen by critics to be aimed at ensuring President Robert Mugabe's re-election in the hotly contested March 9th-10th poll.

The bill sailed through without going to the vote as opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislators, who had earlier fiercely debated against the bill, did not resist.

Under the law, a new media regulatory commission will award long-term accreditation only to Zimbabwe citizens and permanent residents, while foreign journalists will be allowed to work in the country for "limited periods". The law also criminalises reporting on the deliberations of the cabinet and other government bodies. The media regulatory commission, to be appointed mainly by the information minister, will accredit Zimbabwean journalists and issue licences to all media organizations operating in the country.

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Mr Mugabe and opposition leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai entered Zimbabwe's presidential election yesterday.The filing of their nomination papers for the March poll paves the way for Mr Tsvangirai's MDC to launch its biggest challenge to Mr Mugabe.

The election will be contested amid the country's biggest political and economic crisis since independence, embodied in the violent seizures of white-owned farms.