In Brief

MDC ‘trying to create anarchy’ HARARE – The Zimbabwean opposition is trying to create a state of anarchy, veteran President Robert Mugabe said in an independence day speech yesterday.

“We have observed how of late this conspiracy has attempted to transform into a militant, criminal strain, characterised by the puerile attempts of misguided opposition elements to create a state of anarchy,” Mugabe said in a keynote speech at a Harare football stadium. “As government, our message remains clear: that we will never hesitate to deal firmly with those elements who are bent on fomenting anarchy and criminal activities,” added the 83-year-old who has been in power since the former Rhodesia gained independence from Britain on April 18, 1980.* Rwandan commander faces trial BRUSSELS – A former Rwandan military commander faces trial in Brussels on Thursday for the 1994 murders of former Rwandan prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian UN soldiers who were protecting her.Bernard Ntuyahaga is accused of overseeing the killings on April 7, 1994, just hours after Rwandan Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his plane was downed the previous evening.That assassination sparked the genocide in which about 800 000 people – mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus – were massacred by Hutu extremists in the tiny central African country.The UN troops, who had arrived to protect Uwilingiyimana, were taken off to the “Camp Kigali” barracks where they were brutally killed by Rwandan troops.The killing of the peacekeepers shocked Belgium and the country withdrew its personnel from the country immediately afterwards.The perpetrators of the attack on the plane carrying president Habyarimana have never been identified.* Wife escapes from hijackers JOHANNESBURG – An alleged hijacker was shot dead and another was arrested after Free State police spent three hours trying to coax them out of a donga just outside Koppies, police said on Tuesday.Superintendent Motantsi Makhele said the men allegedly tried to hijack Sandra de Jong, 40, at about 14:30 on Tuesday.De Jong was driving from Koppies to Edenville when she saw two men standing in the road.When she swerved to avoid hitting them, one started shooting at her.”She kept on driving, while contacting her husband on her cellphone.The husband then contacted the police,” said Makhele.De Jong escaped unharmed.Police later found two men hiding in a donga next to the road and tried to persuade them to get out.Nampa-AFP-Sapa”As government, our message remains clear: that we will never hesitate to deal firmly with those elements who are bent on fomenting anarchy and criminal activities,” added the 83-year-old who has been in power since the former Rhodesia gained independence from Britain on April 18, 1980. * Rwandan commander faces trial BRUSSELS – A former Rwandan military commander faces trial in Brussels on Thursday for the 1994 murders of former Rwandan prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian UN soldiers who were protecting her.Bernard Ntuyahaga is accused of overseeing the killings on April 7, 1994, just hours after Rwandan Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed when his plane was downed the previous evening.That assassination sparked the genocide in which about 800 000 people – mainly minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus – were massacred by Hutu extremists in the tiny central African country.The UN troops, who had arrived to protect Uwilingiyimana, were taken off to the “Camp Kigali” barracks where they were brutally killed by Rwandan troops.The killing of the peacekeepers shocked Belgium and the country withdrew its personnel from the country immediately afterwards.The perpetrators of the attack on the plane carrying president Habyarimana have never been identified.* Wife escapes from hijackers JOHANNESBURG – An alleged hijacker was shot dead and another was arrested after Free State police spent three hours trying to coax them out of a donga just outside Koppies, police said on Tuesday.Superintendent Motantsi Makhele said the men allegedly tried to hijack Sandra de Jong, 40, at about 14:30 on Tuesday.De Jong was driving from Koppies to Edenville when she saw two men standing in the road.When she swerved to avoid hitting them, one started shooting at her.”She kept on driving, while contacting her husband on her cellphone.The husband then contacted the police,” said Makhele.De Jong escaped unharmed.Police later found two men hiding in a donga next to the road and tried to persuade them to get out.Nampa-AFP-Sapa