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Zimbabwe 'Hit List' Sparks Unease

Both sides claim 'memo' is part of dangerous power play

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 6, 2008 7:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – The Zimbabwe opposition denied responsibility yesterday for a "hit list" that is circulating in Harare, saying President Robert Mugabe created it to incite panic. The memo,
which lists officials to be purged, cropped up as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was assuring military and intelligence leaders that his transition into the presidential office would not include retribution.

"We don't have any documents targeting individuals," said an opposition spokesman. "We carry no machetes, nor any hammers to target any individuals." Results of the presidential election are not yet released, and Mugabe has called for a runoff. But Tsvangirai, who has already claimed victory, calls a runoff unnecessary, and charged yesterday that Mugabe's regime was preparing to mobilize armed militias to intimidate voters.

A Zimbabwean man reads a copy of a newspaper in Harare, Sunday, April, 6, 2008. President Robert Mugabe's ruling party is demanding a vote recount and a further delay to announcing the results of Zimbabwe's presidential election, the state Sunday Mail newspaper reported, prompting outrage from the opposition party.
A Zimbabwean man reads a copy of a newspaper in Harare, Sunday, April, 6, 2008. President Robert Mugabe's ruling party is demanding a vote recount and a further delay to announcing the results of Zimbabwe's...   (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
A woman and child pass a kiosk, with election posters with portraits of President Robert Mugabe in Harare Saturday April 5, 2008. Zimbabweans ricocheted from euphoria to fear and finally to anger in the tumultuous week after presidential elections that longtime ruler Mugabe almost certainly lost. Hopes for change in...
A woman and child pass a kiosk, with election posters with portraits of President Robert Mugabe in Harare Saturday April 5, 2008. Zimbabweans ricocheted from euphoria to fear and finally to anger in the...   (AP Photo)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.(AP Photo)
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.(AP Photo)   (AP Photo)
Voters check results at a polling station in Bulawayo,  Zimbabwe, Sunday March 30, 2008.  Zimbabwe's main opposition party claimed an early lead Sunday in elections, including in some rural strongholds of President Robert Mugabe, in an apparent effort to thwart any attempt to rig the vote count. (AP Photo)
Voters check results at a polling station in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Sunday March 30, 2008. Zimbabwe's main opposition party claimed an early lead Sunday in elections, including in some rural strongholds...   (AP Photo)
Zimbabwe's Main opposition leader of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) party, Morgan Tsvangirai, watches his wife, Susan, right, cast her vote, at a voting station in Harare in the country's  elections Saturday March 29, 2008. President Robert Mugabe faces the toughest challenge to his 28-year rule and the opposition...
Zimbabwe's Main opposition leader of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) party, Morgan Tsvangirai, watches his wife, Susan, right, cast her vote, at a voting station in Harare in the country's elections...   (AP Photo)
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