Zimbabwe says seizes U.S. plane, 'mercenaries'
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has seized a U.S.-registered cargo plane with 64 suspected mercenaries of various nationalities and a cargo of "military material," Home Affairs (Interior) Minister Kembo Mohadi said Monday.
"A United States of America-registered Boeing 727-100 cargo plane was detained last night at about 1930 (12:30 p.m. EST) at Harare International Airport after its owners had made a false declaration of its cargo and crew," Mohadi said in a statement.
"The plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various nationalities," he said, adding that an investigation had also revealed "military material" in the cargo.
Mohadi said fuller investigations were under way to establish the identity of the men and the nature of their mission. There was no word on where the airplane arrived from, or whether Zimbabwe was its destination.
Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Harare could not be reached for comment.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been engaged in a bitter war of words with both the United States and Britain, which have accused him of a political crackdown following his victory in 2002 presidential elections that the opposition and Western observers said were flawed.
Mugabe in turn accuses Western powers of attempting to undermine his government in retaliation for his controversial seizure of white-owned farms for distribution to landless blacks.
Once one of the most prosperous countries in southern Africa, Zimbabwe now faces regular shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange as well as soaring rates of inflation and high unemployment.
03/08/04 09:40 ET
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"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
