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/ 17 March 2008

Mugabe rival denies ‘puppet’ tag

A former finance minister challenging Robert Mugabe for the presidency denied on Sunday he was a Western puppet and said such accusations were to divert attention from Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. Simba Makoni is running as an independent candidate after being expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party.

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/ 11 July 2007

Joy at Zimbabwe price slash ebbs fast

Shops in Zimbabwe’s normally thriving eastern border city of Mutare are fast running out of stock. Seven days after President Robert Mugabe’s government began a blitz on shops and businesses, forcing them to slash prices by half, Mutare’s biggest stores look in part like they’ve been decimated.

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/ 26 October 2006

Arms-cache accused denies trying to topple Mugabe

A white former police reservist on Thursday pleaded not guilty to charges of hoarding arms as part of an alleged plot to topple veteran President Robert Mugabe as he went on trial in Zimbabwe. Lawyers for Peter Hitschmann told the court in Mutare, 270km east of Harare, that an initial confession had been forced out of the defendant while he was tortured.

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/ 26 February 2006

Mugabe launches new tirade against West

President Robert Mugabe used his official 82nd birthday celebrations on Saturday to launch a new tirade against the West, boosted by a split in the opposition party. In an apparent play on the name of United States President George Bush, Mugabe warned Zimbabwe’s youth to beware ”the monster of imperialism … lurking in the bush”.