February 25, 2002

Mugabe ready to flee Zimbabwe
By Daniel McGrory

PRESIDENT MUGABE is said to be planning secretly his escape route out of Zimbabwe after his private polling predicted he could be defeated in next month’s elections.
The ailing 78-year-old has been sounding out some of his African neighbours and his dwindling number of friends abroad about providing him with a safe haven.

Fearing that his opponents might try to jail him before he had a chance to slip into exile, Mr Mugabe reluctantly agreed that overtures should be made to opposition rivals.

He is said to have asked President Obasanjo of Nigeria to arrange a deal about his future at an extraordinary late-night meeting in Harare last month.

Much to his surprise, Morgan Tsvangirai, the presidential candidate for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was invited to Mr Mugabe’s official State House residence in the capital. Mr Tsvangirai, who has survived several assassination attempts, agreed to go to the meeting only after he was given guarantees for his own security by President Obasanjo.

When some of Mr Mugabe’s hardline ministers heard about the invitation, there was reportedly a shouting match, with the President telling them to leave the building.

At 2am Mr Tsvangirai was ushered into its main reception room. Only the Nigerian President was there: Mr Mugabe had refused to be present. “President Obasanjo moved closer to Morgan Tsvangirai and, pointing to a portrait of Mr Mugabe on the wall, he asked: ‘What are you going to do about him if you win?’ ” a diplomatic source said.

“Morgan Tsvangirai made it clear he does not want to put Mugabe on trial, or jail him and said he would allow him ‘to leave Zimbabwe with dignity’. President Obasanjo smiled, nodded his head and said: ‘Good. I think that is for the best’.”

The deal also guarantees that Mr Mugabe’s wife, Grace, and his three children can leave, but the MDC leader insists he will ensure that Mr Mugabe does not take any looted money and treasures with him.

At his rallies Mr Mugabe refuses even to countenance defeat, but his closest advisers are saying that despite a campaign of intimidation he is facing the end of his 22-year rule.

Rumours circulate in Harare that Mr Mugabe has the crew of his presidential helicopter on 24-hour standby and the aircraft is parked on the lawn of State House should a swift getaway be needed.

The question remains where Mr Mugabe, who is thought to have suffered a recent stroke, will choose for his exile.

Richard Cornwell, of the South Africa Institute of Security Studies, believes that he will elect to stay in Africa, even though he has cultivated government leaders in Malaysia, Thailand, Cuba and North Korea, among others.

“African leaders are trying to persuade him not to rig the elections on March 9 and 10, and to go peacefully if he loses,” Mr Cornwell said.

Nevertheless, it is by no means certain that Mr Mugabe will bow out gracefully if the vote goes against him. There are fears among diplomats in Harare that Mr Mugabe could blame international interference for a flawed election and try to rule by martial law.

The helicopter is on the pad but I wouldn't count this cat out just yet. He's using every dirty trick in the book to hang on, and probably has a few of his nine lives left.

The leaders of Africa are such a bunch of criminal buffoons, it's tragic. To think of all the years that this situation has been deteriorating, and they would not criticize him. I can understand their hypocrisy about what he has done to the whites of Zimbabwe, but he has done even worse to the blacks! Obviously they have prefered not to do so for fear that such criticism could come back to them. They're all corrupt. The pot calling the kettle...

Wow, this is a switch.. on Monday Tsvangirai was about to be arrested for treason.. now people are actually thinking he might win even with all the corruption and intimidation.

I really hope its true that Mugabe is going to leave, but I doubt it will help any of the people he has dispossesed.  Although if they DONT give the property back to the white farmers the country wont be able to feed itself. There are already food lines, not five years ago this country was a major exporter of agricultural products to Europe.

I dont know why the Brits dont just have the SAS frag Mugabe's ass.

I know a few PH's over there , don't believe for a minute he's about to flee. He has been pulling off stuff for years (land seizures, murder, strong arm intimidation) and the rest of the world has let him and only responded with a few strong words (the recent EU sanctions are a joke) so why should he leave ? He can get away with anything he wants too, and because of the post 9/11 getting all the press's attention  he has had an even more free hand. The latest email i received (2 days ago), has most the whites gearing up for a long siege, they are stocking up on essentials and getting ready to lay low for a long time. If the voting is legit , commrade mugabe will loose but that does not mean he will step down. If he wins , then the election was corrupt , either way expect all hell to break loose in Zim mid March.

If you want to keep updated on zim, here is a link to The Daily News, a non Zanu newspaper and accurate even by african standards.

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

I was wondering why is there no world-wide liberal news-media outcry against this Mugabe fellow. He has done so much damage to his country. Zimbabwe is twice as bad under Mugabe
rule than under white rule. The man on the street is really suffering. I think it is okay for black to do it, but not whites.

No disagreement with your post but a small clarification...White Zimbabweans have a longer history in the country than the blacks that currently reside there.  White settlers arrived in the area 200 years before the Bantu blacks.  When whites arrived the indigenous population was yellow-skined San, Xhosa and a few other hunter-gatherer tribes.  Those original residents fared much better under white rule than the current government who views them as relics to be ethnically cleansed.  Just a long way of saying whites have more historical claim to the land and government than anyone except the original population.  And whites are just as much Zimbabweans as any currently in power.  A few years ago what Mugabe is doing would be called Ethnic Cleansing but media elites can't bring themselves to admit their heroes are really butchers.

The BBC always has news on Zimbabwe.

[url]www.bbc.co.uk[/url] follow the links to Africa stories.

[url]http://www.dailynews.co.zw/[/url]

Thanks for the clarification, as you can see I'm no expert on African affairs.

Another liberal social experiment goes  awry.

I'm afraid that you're right, rogerb, but we'll see. That he is worried and trying to plot his escape gives me some joy though.

Arock and warlord are absolutely correct as well. Imagine if the racial balance there was flipped... and a white communist dictator was oppressing his people, ignoring all civilized norms and international law, all the while scapegoating the minority population and seeking to drive them from their land. Wasn't that country Serbia... and the leader Slobodon Milosovic... and the minority albanian muslims... and the people agitating for outright violence against that nation the left wingers here (and in the media) and abroad?

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!! The level of hypocrisy is incredible. The only thing that I can figure out is that whites are to be held to a more civlized standard, or something.

shooter69...you must be careful what you say...our annointed media elites vilified the concept of the White Man's Burden decades ago.  A more civilized standard is anathema to media dogma.  We should always strive for the lowest common denominator.

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