Help is on the way...the UN HAS ARRIVED

From the Scotsman...

THE United Nations envoy Joaquim Chissano arrived in Zimbabwe for talks with the president, Robert Mugabe, yesterday, as the country plunged deeper into economic crisis, with mass arrests of black-market traders, long lines for petrol and stampedes for scarce food like sugar.

How wonderful...they are going to talk about it.

Mr Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, was due to hold discussions with Mr Mugabe on proposed UN reforms, according to Zimbabwe state radio.

Oh, he's from Mozambique. How wonderful...after they threw out the Portuguese and set up a communist government, they have a couple million starve to death there, so he's an expert...what, you didn't hear about that famine? That's because a) we were busy saving Ethiopia at the time and b) no rock stars heard about Mozambique...I was going to say it was because the government was communist, but come to think about it, so was the government of Ethiopia back then...since then Mozambique has become a poster child for "reconstruction" and "reconciliation"...which is good, but excuse me if I note an ounce of prevention would have saved a lot more lives.

The meeting was also expected to touch on growing food shortages in Zimbabwe, which used to be the "bread basket" of southern Africa.

James Morris, head of the World Food Programme, is due to visit the country, which has an estimated five million people in urgent need of food aid, next week.

They need food aid NOW...the harvest was zilch, thanks to no rain...but they are still in the talking phase, not the shipping phase...

Before parliamentary elections in March, Mr Mugabe insisted that the country had a "bumper harvest" of maize and would be self-sufficient in food. But shortly after the poll - won by the ruling Zanu-PF party with a huge majority amid allegations of the use of food as a political weapon to secure votes - the government said it would have to import 1.2 million tonnes of maize.

Think about it: 1.2 million tonnes...into rural areas with dirt roads...the nearest port in South Africa (or Mozambique, if they managed to repair the railroad to the port there)....AND THEY ARE JUST STARTING TO TALK ABOUT IT...

Nope, no problem here....