http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/25/africa/AF-GEN-Zimbabwe.php Police report five injured in gasoline bomb attack on train in Zimbabwe Police in Zimbabwe were put on high alert after a passenger train was petrol bombed and a tear gas canister was thrown aboard, injuring five people, the state Sunday Mail reported.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said about 750 passengers were at risk in the attack on the outskirts of Harare as the train headed on its nightly service to the western provincial capital of Bulawayo on Friday. The attack was believed to have been politically motivated. The five passengers taken to the hospital were injured as they stampeded to escape from burning gasoline that railroad staff later extinguished, Bvudzijena said. The train continued its journey to Bulawayo with armed police riding shotgun. "Our alertness has been reinforced by this incident. We are also revising the protection of the public as they move from one point to another," he said. It was the third gasoline bomb attack reported by police in the past month of escalating political violence - and the second in which police alleged tear gas was used. Police have blamed all three attacks on suspected opposition activists. Three police officers were reported by police to have been injured in an attack on a police station in western Harare a week earlier. The Sunday Mail, a government mouthpiece, said Bvudzijena warned that perpetrators risked being shot as authorities cracked down on politically instigated lawlessness. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change has denied any involvement. Zimbabwe has come in for international condemnation for attacks on activists, including MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was badly beaten after his arrest March 11 when police crushed a prayer meeting the government banned, calling it an illegal political protest. Several other leaders were also hospitalized. President Robert Mugabe on Friday blamed the opposition for the recent violence and dismissed claims that his rule was approaching an end. He said a continued campaign of defiance or protests by opponents and civic and church groups would be met "very vigorously" by security forces. "We hope they have learned a lesson. If they have not, then they will get similar treatment," he said. Zimbabwe's ruling party leaders are scheduled next week to consider abandoning widely criticized proposals to delay presidential elections until 2010, the state media reported Saturday. Mugabe had previously suggested delaying the 2008 presidential elections to coincide with the 2010 parliamentary elections, which would effectively have extended his presidential term by two years unchallenged. Even ruling party members questioned the delay. But the state Herald newspaper and the state broadcaster reported Saturday Mugabe had told a meeting of the ruling ZANU-PF's Women's League there was growing consensus in the party to hold both elections next year, and the issue would be discussed at a meeting of the central committee. "I think the view is that 2008 is preferable. Some of our lawyers are saying this will not give problems," Mugabe was quoted as saying, in an apparent concession to party members. "If we are going to have an election (next year), we must start organizing and mobilizing support now, now, now." The opposition holds 41 seats in the 150-seat parliament, where Mugabe appoints 30 of the lawmakers. The central committee meeting could be a key test of the support for Mugabe amid growing signs of rifts within his party. Rival factions supporting the former parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa or Vice President Joyce Muguru, whose husband is a powerful ex-army commander, are confident they can prevent another Mugabe term, according to University of Zimbabwe political analyst John Makumbe. Muguru met with South Africa's Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka at a Johannesburg hotel on Friday, according to footage screened by South African television. South Africa is spearheading the region's diplomatic efforts to find a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis. It was unclear whether Mugabe was aware of the meeting, which was described by the South African Foreign Ministry as private. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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