Interesting piece by the Forward on the Zimbabwe opposition accusing Israeli-linked firms of interfering in favor of Mugabe in elections and electronic voter roll keeping and counting. But from my limited understanding, the piece misses one of the most compelling antecedents for the accusation, however bogus or legitimate it may be: video (BBC) given by former Israeli military intel agent and infamous liar extraordinaire Ari Ben-Menashe claiming in 2002 that Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tzvangirai tried to hire him to have Mugabe assasinated (Ben-Menashe had previously long worked for Mugabe and probably still did). Tzvangirai claimed the video was doctored and he had met with Ben-Menashe about lobbying. Independent media analysts cited by the BBC determined the video was doctored. Mugabe used ben-Menashe's stunt as an excuse to charge Tzvangirai with treason.

Posted by Laura at April 2, 2008 03:23 PM