Well, maybe if you say please...

Maybe, just maybe, Mugabe will let the UN send food in to the 7 million who will be short of food...


Machinga, Malawi - Zimbabwe will probably allow the United Nations to launch a food-aid operation to help alleviate the impact of a late-in-the-season drought across the nation, says the UN's special envoy for southern Africa....

How nice of them to "allow" food aid...

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accused aid agencies in the past of working to further the political agenda of the opposition under the guise of food distribution.

Yup. Evil NGO's fed people, even those who voted against him...how dare they...

Last year he said his country had more than enough food, forcing aid agencies to scale back distribution. But the WFP carried on feeding almost a million of the most vulnerable, including many children orphaned by Aids.

Forcing agaencies? what happened...did the maize stand up and chase out the NGO's? Or did a ghost do it? Actually, there wasn't enough food last year...

Zimbabwean officials say the country needs 1,2-million tons of maize, but many aid workers say they doubt the government has the foreign exchange to afford it.

Morris, who is due to meet Mugabe next week in Harare, says he expects the government to become more helpful, given that the drought has impacted on Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi as well as his country.

"My perception is that the government is working hard to ensure food is available," he said. "I think they'll want our help. We'll leave the politics to others but our priority is that people don't starve."

Yes, if you beg hard enough, maybe the government will let you feed the starving...