Zim likely to monitor phones, mail

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's parliament on Tuesday began debating a law empowering authorities to monitor phones, mail and the Internet to protect national security, a move seen by critics as part of an official crackdown on the opposition.

While rights groups are concerned President Robert Mugabe's government will use the Interception of Communications bill to infringe on privacy and further trample freedom of speech, officials have described it as integral to fighting crime....

Critics say the bill is motivated by Mugabe's desire to punish and keep closer tabs on the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main opposition party, amid rising unrest in the economically strapped southern African nation.

Opposition legislators said they feared the government would abuse the law...