Hunger stalks Zim

And Amnesty International says it's Mugabe's fault...
:link is: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news041005/amnesty041005.htm

There has been an outcry from many quarters who have criticised the United Nations for inviting Robert Mugabe to host a regional conference on food safety for Africa. This conference was jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

True to form, Mugabe used this platform to defend his chaotic land seizures which resulted in nearly half the population depending on food aid. He blamed the food shortages in Africa on weak food safety control systems and droughts. Mugabe also accused the West of dumping genetically modified crops on the developing world.

An Amnesty International spokesperson Audrey Gaughran says the food shortages in Zimbabwe are a result of a combination of several factors and some of those have to do with government policies. She said while there are factors like HIV/AIDS, the government’s Operation Murambatsvina internally displaced thousands of people. The government’s chaotic implementation of the land reform programme has also contributed to the food shortages in Zimbabwe.////
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And even SOLDIERS are hungry in Zim...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4309788.stm

Zimbabwe soldiers tell of hunger

Millions now need food aid
Soldiers in Zimbabwe have spoken of being sent on forced leave, as the army was unable to provide them with food.

The country is already struggling to feed an estimated 3.8m starving people in the rural areas, and has to import at least 37,000 tons of maize a week.

The army denies that the forced leave was the result of food shortages.

According to soldiers in Bulawayo, the food shortages began early this year which forced their superiors at times to buy maize on the black market.

The soldiers told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme there were serious shortages of food in barracks.

They believe that 300 soldiers have been forced to take leave in Bulawayo, and 2,000 countrywide.
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Hmmm...soldiers hungry in the countryside...wonder if they are doing the usual thing that hungry soldiers do to civilians...i.e. pillage, steal, kill for food...no reports yet, but inquiring minds want to know....