OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Sunday
AN explosion went off early on Sunday at the building housing the printing press of Zimbabwe’s only independent daily, staff at the paper and witnesses said.
The blast happened at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday according to residents in Harare’s Southerton neighbourhood.
The blast came two days after militant war veteran leader Chenjerai Hunzvi declared a “ban” on the Daily News. On Friday, Hunzvi threatened to disrupt the newspaper’s distribution around Zimbabwe.
Hunzvi’s pro-government followers have denounced the newspaper for its critical reporting on President Robert Mugabe, and have seized and destroyed 2 330 copies of the paper this week, according to the Daily News.
“It’s extensively damaged. There’s nothing that can happen on it,” said a company official. “When you get warping on the metal presses, that’s the end of it.”
He was unable to provide further details, but said security guards stationed there were being interviewed by police.
“We should have known it,” he said, referring to threats at the weekend from the war veterans.
Information minister Jonathan Moyo in the state-controlled Sunday News today condemned the attack on the Herald as “an unprecedented thuggery” and said it was evidence “that the MDC runs the Daily News.” – AFP