Job Sikhala, a Zimbabwean MP, had wire wrapped around his genitals, toes and tongue and was then subjected to electric shocks for eight hours until he confessed to treason against the Zanu-PF regime.
It’s old hat, of course, to reiterate that the first casualty in war is always the truth. In the 1991 Gulf War a clear decision was taken to keep journalists away from the front lines, in order to avoid embarrassing disclosures of atrocities and on-side ineptitude. This time round, in another war that makes no sense, as far as anyone with half a brain can see, the opposite tactic has been used.
Both Saddam and Bush are willing to use force and deception to achieve their foreign policy goals. Both have recently violated international agreements such as the Geneva Convention. But it is wrong and extremely dangerous to consider the two sides to be politically or morally equivalent.
Australia, with Steve Waugh back at the helm, left on Monday for the West Indies needing victory in the four-Test series to reclaim the number one Test nation ranking.
Embattled African National Congress MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela jetted into Baghdad’s international airport last night on a chartered flight to begin her tour of duty as a human shield.
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While the Treatment Action Campaign would be happy to meet Deputy President Jacob Zuma, it was concerned that a previous meeting with him had yielded no tangible results, a TAC representative said on Monday.
Senior government officials met in Robertson east of Cape Town on Monday to put a monetary value to the damage caused by last week’s devastating floods in the area.
The issue of Zimbabwe could see developed nations lose their collective vigour for plans to revive Africa, British Minister for Africa Valerie Amos said on Monday.
Western Cape environmentalists and farmers are increasingly concerned about the multi-million rand proposal to build the Skuifraam Dam near Franschoek, saying it was a ”looming disaster”.