ZIMBABWE: President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, armed with new laws that muzzle his rivals, yesterday hit the campaign trail for elections in March, touting his violence-wracked land reforms to voters.
Mr Mugabe (77) flew by helicopter with military escorts to the remote northeastern area of Mutawatawa to launch his campaign for another six-year term in office amid mounting international criticism of his regime.
"I want to finish the redistribution of land to the people," he told the crowd of more than 20,000 gathered outside a primary school."This is a war, and the British are not happy with what we are doing, and they have organized to fight us through the MDC."
As Zimbabwe sinks ever deeper into crisis, Mr Mugabe has revived the nationalist rhetoric that propelled him to power in 1980, accusing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of being a puppet of the former colonial power. His land reforms seek to redress colonial wrongs in a nation where the tiny white minority still holds most of the best farmland.
The vast majority of white-owned land has now been targeted for resettlement by blacks in a scheme spearheaded by pro-Mugabe militias who have also waged a sometimes deadly campaign of intimidation against anyone suspected of supporting the MDC.
With the militias staked out across Zimbabwe, the MDC leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, said Mr Mugabe's supporters have set up roadblocks to forcibly stop the opposition from campaigning in regions of Mashonaland Central province, Gokwe, Zaka and Bikita districts.
"The mention of MDC carries with it a death sentence, and that is what the people in these areas have to endure," he said on Thursday.
The MDC says more than 90 of its supporters have been killed in politically motivated attacks, while hundreds of thousands more have been beaten.
International criticism of Mr Mugabe's increasingly autocratic rule has stepped up during the last month, as his government has muscled through parliament a raft of legislation curbing civil liberties.
Stringent new limits on press freedom won parliament's approval late on Thursday, restricting foreign and independent journalists while drastically reducing reporters' ability to gather news from the government.
Two weeks ago, Mr Mugabe signed a new security law, which criminalised criticism of the president and gave police broad powers to break up political meetings.
Another measure amended the electoral law to restrict observers at the poll and to disenfranchise the more than one million Zimbabweans overseas.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, and the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, strongly condemned the new media bill after meeting in Washington, where they discussed possible punitive measures they might take against Zimbabwe.
"I find it almost impossible to comprehend how free and fair elections can be held in Zimbabwe when such laws have been passed," Mr Straw said at a news conference with Mr Powell.
Mr Straw said the law would influence the EU's decision on whether to impose sanctions on Mr Mugabe's regime.