OWN CORRESPONDENT, Mbabane | Sunday 7.00pm.
AN unknown group calling itself The Tigers has claimed responsibility for the Swaziland bomb blast two days ago which killed one person and injured nine others.
An anonymous caller told the Times of Swaziland that the group had planted Friday’s bomb, which destroyed part of the offices of Deputy President Arthur Khoza, to force political changes in the small kingdom.
Opposition political parties have been banned since 1973 in Swaziland, which lies between South Africa and Mozambique, and King Mswati III rules by decree. The caller said The Tigers were also responsible for a blast three weeks ago which destroyed a bridge outside the capital, hours after King Mswati III had passed by, according to the Times article.
Authorities believe that bomb was a botched attempt on the life of the king, and last week interrogated several opposition and trade union leaders about the blast. The caller claimed the Tigers had warned Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini about the blasts, which Dlamini vehemently denied on Saturday. “There are recognised channels of communication for resolving differences, whatever their nature,” he said in the Swazi capital Mbabane. “Swazi people have always condemned acts of terrorism that kill or injure the innocent,” he said. –AFP