Protesters in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean riot police fired teargas on Saturday to break up violent clashes between demonstrators and supporters of President Robert Mugabe, raising the spectre of chaos ahead of general elections later this year. Fifteen people were hurt during the confrontation in the capital, which broke out when veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war ambushed marching protesters, who included elderly white couples and families walking hand-in-hand.
The demonstration had been organised by the National Constitutional Assembly, which had sought to stage a peaceful protest against threats by bush war veterans to foment violence should Mugabe's government lose the elections. Some eyewitnesses said white protesters were singled out during the clashes, with war veterans wielding rocks, clubs and sticks. Two demonstrators were badly hurt.
Former colonial power Britain condemned the violence as "thuggery orchestrated from on high which drags Zimbabwe's already tarnished image even lower". The unrest was the worst since war veterans occupied more than 600 white-owned farms earlier this year to support Mugabe's plans to seize land for blacks. Political analysts said it showed the country was rapidly slipping towards anarchy.
