South African writer Heidi Holland is one of the last non-Zimbabwean journalists to have interviewed Robert Mugabe. She spent two hours with him last December after pursuing the Zimbabwean president for months. This is her description of that encounter.
While I waited outside Robert Mugabe's office in the foyer of State House, his spokesman hissed at me to get to my feet.
Jumping up, I followed the frozen gaze of a dozen officials who stood to attention suddenly.
Behind my chair, Zimbabwe's president had appeared in a doorway, motionless and staring straight at me.
I smiled but he stared passively back. His eyes never left my face.
I felt he was trying to get the measure of me. I had heard from his niece how he used silence as a weapon to unnerve his enemies and ensure that nobody knew what he was thinking.
Once facing Mr Mugabe across his big desk, he apologised for keeping me waiting in a Harare hotel for five weeks.
His face remained expressionless, which is presumably why, having neither frown nor laughter lines, he looks so much younger than his 84 years.
As one of the world's most reviled leaders continued to study his visitor silently, I realised Mr Mugabe was almost as wary of me as I was of him. The six officials in attendance did not move a muscle.
The tension in the room remained suffocating until I was invited by his spokesman to describe the book I was writing.
Mr Mugabe laughed uproariously when I related an anecdote from my interview with Lady Mary Soames, widow of Britain's last governor in Rhodesia.
She told me how her English friends had urged her to send a disapproving letter to Mr Mugabe, with whom she once socialised, and how she explained to them that, having taken Zimbabwe's president off her Christmas card list, she could do no more.
Earlier, I had spotted a massive banner inside the presidency on which the words 'Mugabe is right' were emblazoned.
His staff's obsequious laughter each time he made a sarcastic remark confirmed that their conditions of service included internalising the idea that he can do no wrong.
Mr Mugabe admitted having no lifelong friends and, as a lonely, bookish child, he recalled "talking to myself, reciting little poems and reading things aloud to myself."
Tears gleamed in his eyes when he recalled the cordial relations he once enjoyed with Britain's Royal Family.
He talked a lot about his "sacrifice and suffering", words reminiscent of the Christian concepts he imbibed as a child in a Catholic mission school.
He told me that his granny was regarded as a heathen, explaining that he could only visit her when the European priests allowed it.
One of them became a surrogate parent after his own father abandoned the family.
I first met Mr Mugabe in 1975, shortly before he crossed the border from what was then Rhodesia into Mozambique to wage war against white minority rule.
He came to dinner at my house, not to meet me but to talk to a constitutional expert, who was my friend.
He was quiet and pleasant, though he became agitated when his lift did not arrive and he thought he would miss his train at 2100.
Seeing my friend could not drive, I decided to take Mr Mugabe to the station myself, leaving my baby at home alone.
Driving fast and in a panic, I told him that I had left my son unattended.
The next day, he phoned from a public call box to thank me for dinner and to ask if my baby was okay.
In contrast to his vitriolic public speeches, underneath there is a shy, softly-spoken man.
When I met him again last year, he remained the same, albeit more severe and distilled.
When discussing his infamous land grab, he referred pointedly to the country's dispossessed land owners as "British farmers" and made it clear that he held Britain responsible for the bloody 15-year-long war with his predecessor Ian Smith.
Mr Mugabe is obsessed with his sense of betrayal by the British. "It was the British who spoilt things for the whites," he told me.
On his reasoning behind the land invasions, he said: "We had hoped that the British would take notice of it and that they would say: 'Let's meet and discuss this'"
It became clear that Mr Mugabe has arranged himself in a bubble of denial to avoid facing what he has done in Zimbabwe.
When I suggested that his policies had caused the economy to collapse, he sat up straight, his eyes flashing.
"Our economy is a hundred times better, than the average African economy. Outside South Africa, what country is [as good as] Zimbabwe?...What is lacking now are goods on the shelves - that is all."
It seemed to me that Mr Mugabe was showing he was completely out of touch with reality.
Heidi Holland is the author of Dinner with Mugabe
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Mr Mwanawasa chairs the Southern African Development Community.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa is being treated for a mild stroke in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Zambia's vice-president has said.
Mr Mwanawasa's condition was described as stable.
The president, 59, was rushed to hospital on Sunday with sharp chest pains ahead of an African Union summit.
The summit was expected to address Zimbabwe's disputed election. Mr Mwanawasa has taken a tough line against Robert Mugabe's regime.
"I wish to inform the nation that the president had suffered a stroke," Zambian Vice-President Rupiah Banda said in a statement.
"However, upon being attended to by doctors his condition has been described as stable."
Mr Mwanawasa, the current chairman of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), said he sympathised with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai when he withdrew from the presidential election because of political violence against his supporters.
"Elections held in such an environment will... bring embarrassment to the Sadc region and the entire continent of Africa," he said then.
He has compared the economic situation in Zimbabwe to "a sinking Titanic".
The Zambian president had been due to sit next to Mr Mugabe at the AU summit, where seating is arranged alphabetically.
Egypt's state news agency Mena reported that the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was monitoring Mr Mwanawasa's treatment in Sharm el-Sheikh, and that President Hosni Mubarak had visited him in hospital.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
By Martin Plaut - BBC News, Sharm el-Sheikh.
To the traditional accompaniment of wailing sirens, African leaders have arrived at the opening of their summit - a summit dominated by the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Robert Mugabe's face has not featured much on the official television feed
But a visitor arriving in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh without this prior knowledge might find it difficult to be believe.
The summit's host, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, made a strong speech in which he said that Africa's conflicts were a major impediment to development. "There can be no development without peace and no advancement without stability," he said. And he went on to enumerate the continent's conflicts: between Djibouti and Eritrea, Chad and Sudan, and in Somalia.
But of Zimbabwe he had nothing to say.
Zimbabwe is an embarrassment, which some African leaders do not want to mention in public in the hope it might just go away. UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro, however, told the summit that this was a "moment of truth" for African leaders, when they could mobilise support for a negotiated solution.
The AU even has a mechanism for refusing to recognise a head of state who has not been democratically elected. But those who wanted the AU to ban Mr Mugabe from the meeting were always going to be disappointed. Despite days of debate by its foreign ministers, the AU has not yet revealed a clear plan of action. The AU may call for more dialogue in Zimbabwe, but it is not expected to go much further than that.
Security is extremely tight, so it is not even possible for journalists to see if the assembled presidents and prime ministers are still giving Mr Mugabe their traditional warm welcome, or if some are now giving him the cold shoulder.
It was left to the union's chairman, Jean Ping, to give some indication of current thinking. "Africa has to shoulder its responsibility," he said. "It must do everything to help the parties work together in the interests of their country."
Not exactly a map of the way forward, but the best so far. Perhaps the clearest sign of African leaders' views come from the official television feed from the vast conference chamber. Other delegations have been shown at length, listening to the speeches. But for some reason the cameras have decided not to linger lovingly on the face of one of the continent's leaders.
The familiar features of Robert Mugabe have been only given the briefest screening. He is not the only Zimbabwean leader in Sharm el-Sheik. The opposition Movement for Democatic Change has flown in one of its senior officials - Vice-President Thokozani Khupe. Not that she is allowed into this conference centre. But she did hold a news conference early this morning at one of the hotels. "I don't think it would be right for the African Union to welcome him after all he has done," she said. Her voice will almost certainly be ignored by Africa's presidents.
What they cannot ignore is the impact on southern Africa: the millions who have fled from Zimbabwe, spilling over the country's borders into neighbouring Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. Investors, concerned about the instability that threatens the region, have been putting plans to bring new manufacturing and mining to southern Africa on hold.
The region and the continent cannot ignore the crisis in Zimbabwe, even if Egyptian television can.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Mr Mwanawasa chairs the Southern African Development Community.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has been rushed to hospital in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh. Reports say Mr Mwanawasa, 59, experienced sharp chest pains, but is now in a stable condition.
He is due to attend an African Union summit in the resort on Monday, which is expected to focus on Zimbabwe's controversial presidential election.
Mr Mwanawasa has taken a tough line against Robert Mugabe's regime, calling the election undemocratic.
Mr Mwanawasa, the current chairman of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), said he sympathised with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai when he withdrew from the presidential election because of political violence against his supporters.
"Elections held in such an environment will... bring embarrassment to the Sadc region and the entire continent of Africa," he said then.
He has compared the economic situation in Zimbabwe to "a sinking Titanic".
Egypt's state news agency Mena reported that the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was monitoring Mr Mwanawasa's treatment in Sharm el-Sheikh, and that President Hosni Mubarak had visited him in hospital.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Gordon Brown has promised the world would be prepared to put money into Zimbabwe if democracy were restored. The prime minister said a group of countries would be "prepared to contribute substantially financially". Mr Brown also urged Africa's leaders to condemn Robert Mugabe ahead of the forthcoming African Union summit.
Mr Mugabe has said he is heading for a "sweeping victory" after Zimbabwe's presidential election was boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), pulled out of the race - although his name remained on ballot papers - amid reports of violence and intimidation towards his supporters.
Mr Mugabe is expected to attend the African Union summit which opens on Monday in Egypt.
Mr Brown told CNN: "I think what we are now looking for is that combination of African countries in the African Union, working I hope with the United Nations, sending envoys to Zimbabwe to see what progress can be made, to see what the way forward is. "And let me also say that we and a group of countries are working together and prepared to contribute substantially financially to the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. "Countries round the world will do so - as long as it is restored as a democracy."
Mr Brown said he believed a time would come when Mr Mugabe realised the rest of Africa no longer supported "the brutality and the violence and oppression of his regime". "I believe that those leaders will make it absolutely clear that for Africa's reputation and for the sake of the people of Zimbabwe a great deal has got to be done to change things in Zimbabwe," he said.
Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown, who will join the summit, told BBC News all measures were being considered to end the Mugabe regime. "You start with political and economic pressures and you work up through the repertoire, but what you cannot accept is the status quo continuing. President Mugabe has to go," he said.
On Saturday, Mr Brown described the decision to press ahead with the election as a "new low" for the Mugabe regime.
The former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, has said the international community should use force if necessary to intervene in Zimbabwe.
The US is preparing new sanctions against Zimbabwe, and President George Bush said the US would press for strong action by the UN.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Sunday 29th June 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
We woke to the sound of shouting on the 27th of June as four young men, wearing Zanu pf scarves, stretched out across the width of the road and roused the neighbourhood. It was ten past six in the morning, the sun was hardly up and a cold sheet of frost lay across gardens and along roadsides. "Hey, hurry up, hurry up," the Zanu PF youths shouted; "time for voting! Let's go, let's go to vote," they yelled.
The arrogant calls were met with silence. Even in urban Zimbabwe people are deeply traumatized by the events of the past few weeks and so we stay behind closed doors. The progress of the four men could be tracked by the barking of dogs and the thought that just four young men could intimidate hundreds is a chilling reality.
The 27th of June will be remembered as a dark day in our history. How will we explain to our grandchildren that in the depth of Zimbabwe's crisis there was a Presidential election in which only one candidate was contesting?
As he prepared to step into his official limousine after casting his vote for the only contesting Presidential candidate, Mr Mugabe smiled for the cameras.
"How are you feeling Mr President?" someone asked.
"Fit, very fit," he replied. "And very optimistic."
Optimistic? Of winning an election without an opponent?
Walking round my home town the morning after the election, there was a sombre and dejected feeling in the streets. There was no excitement or expectation and no point talking about results. With only one candidate the outcome was obvious.
One man held up his red stained finger to show that he'd voted - under protest but for his own safety. With dry sarcasm he said he'd spoiled his paper: he said he loved both candidates equally and so he'd given them both an X ! Moments later he shook his head sadly and said: "so many people will die now - there is already such hunger everywhere. Now it will be worse."
Another man lifted his red finger but said angrily: "For What?" His daughter had been told to bring 'top -up' school fees of one hundred billion dollars when schools re-opened after the elections. This amount is five times the man's monthly salary. It is his daughter's O Level year so he said he would sell yet more of his possessions to raise the money - in order to give his daughter a future.
Two young men stood on the roadside desperately trying to flag down a lift for their friend who had just come out of hospital after a severe asthma attack.
Because there is virtually no public transport anymore a group of friends had clubbed together and raised the 90 billion dollars needed for a private car. 90 billion dollars to travel one way - less than ten kilometres to the hospital to save their friend's life. As the youngsters moved on, one said:" We cry for our fair country."
It took five weeks to count the votes cast in the March 29th election. It took just forty four hours to count the votes of the June 27th ballot. The results have been officially stated as follows:
Robert Mugabe: 2,150,269 votes
Morgan Tsvangirai : 233,000 votes
Spoilt papers 131,481.
At 4.17 pm on the 29th June 2008, 84 year old Mr Mugabe was declared the duly elected President of Zimbabwe.
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy.
Archbishop Tutu believes the world should intervene in Zimbabwe's crisis. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has urged the international community to intervene in Zimbabwe - by force if necessary. The former Cape Town archbishop said he would support the deployment of a UN force to restore peace in the country. He said African Union leaders should refuse to recognise Robert Mugabe as the legitimate president of Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe declared he was heading for a "sweeping victory", in remarks made at a relative's funeral late on Saturday. "The returns show that we are winning convincingly, that we have won in all the 26 constituencies in Harare, an MDC stronghold where we won in only one constituency in March. That is the trend," he said in footage broadcast on state television.
It is thought Mr Mugabe will be sworn in for another term on Sunday, although final results from the one-candidate election have been delayed.
The opposition boycotted the vote amid claims of violence and intimidation.
Mr Mugabe was said to have won by a wide margin, but international observers have reported many spoilt ballots, which in some areas could outnumber votes cast. Earlier, officials said the count was complete, but later reports said results from rural areas were still trickling in.
In an interview for the BBC's Andrew Marr programme, Archbishop Tutu said the African Union could have a clear role in persuading Mr Mugabe to negotiate.
"If you were to have a unanimous voice, saying quite clearly to Mr Mugabe... you are illegitimate and we will not recognise your administration in any shape or form - I think that would be a very, very powerful signal and would really strengthen the hand of the international community." "I think that a very good argument can be made for having an international force to restore peace," he added.
African Union (AU) foreign ministers have gathered in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh, before a full meeting of heads of state on Monday which Mr Mugabe is expected to attend.
Earlier the Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said sanctions against Zimbabwe are unlikely to work, and that Mr Mugabe and the opposition should instead be encouraged to talk.
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), announced he was pulling out of the election on Sunday.
But his name remained on ballot papers after Zimbabwe's electoral authorities refused to accept his decision.
In interviews published in British newspapers on Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai said he would push for negotiations with Mr Mugabe on a new constitution and fresh elections. "We have the power to control parliament, and that is recognised even by Mugabe's Zanu-PF... We must force a transitional agreement for a set time-frame and work towards a new constitution for Zimbabwe," he told the Mail on Sunday. "I am confident we can achieve that if international pressure keeps up," he added.
In a separate interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Tsvangirai said it was possible that Mr Mugabe could remain as a ceremonial head of state. "I don't think it's inconceivable for such an arrangement to include him, depending, of course, on the details of what is being proposed and what are the arrangements," he said.
Mr Mugabe came second to Mr Tsvangirai in the first round of the presidential vote in March.
Since then, the MDC says some 86 of its supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by militias loyal to Zanu-PF.
The government blames the MDC for the violence.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's president on Sunday, following his victory in an election boycotted by the opposition candidate.
Government sources say Mr Mugabe has won by a huge margin in the vote, which has been widely condemned as a sham.
Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the election amid claims of violence and intimidation by government supporters.
US President George W Bush said he had ordered sanctions be drawn up against the "illegitimate" government. In a statement, Mr Bush said he had instructed his secretaries of state and the treasury to draw up sanctions. He added he would press for international action, including an arms embargo. He said the move was in response to "the Mugabe regime's blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights".
Election officials in Zimbabwe say that the vote count is now complete, and they hope to announce the result later on Saturday. Reports from the country suggested there were a substantial number of spoiled ballots. Zimbabwean journalist Brian Hungwe says that in some cases, voters expressed their anger against the violence by calling Mr Mugabe a murderer on the ballot papers. He adds that in the opposition stronghold of Matabeleland, there were more spoiled papers than votes for Mr Mugabe.
Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), announced he was pulling out of the election on Sunday. But his name remained on ballot papers after Zimbabwe's electoral authorities refused to accept his decision.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts are continuing to try to find a solution to the crisis.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula has said sanctions against Zimbabwe are unlikely to work, and that Mr Mugabe and the opposition should instead be encouraged to talk. He was speaking at a meeting of African Union foreign ministers in the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheik, before a full meeting of heads of state on Monday which Mr Mugabe is expected to attend.
Mr Wetangula, whose own country recently went through a period of political violence before a power-sharing deal was brokered, told reporters: "History has shown us that they (sanctions) don't work because the leadership just dig in and dig in and feel persecuted.
"I think we need to engage Zimbabwe. The route of sanctions may not be the helpful one... the first and most important thing is for the people of Zimbabwe and their leadership to sit down and talk to each other, instead of talking at each other."
On Friday, the UN Security Council said it deeply regretted Zimbabwe's decision to go ahead with the presidential poll. It said conditions for a free and fair election did not exist, but - after objections from South Africa - stopped short of saying it was illegitimate. The UN Security Council is expected to return to the issue of Zimbabwe in the coming days.
African voices on Zimbabwe's poll crisis
However, diplomats say that because of resistance from South Africa, China and Russia, the council is unlikely to impose sanctions. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a monitoring group, reported that people in most rural areas had been forced to vote in Friday's poll.
A Zimbabwean journalist said militias loyal to Mr Mugabe had gone door-to-door in townships outside the capital, Harare, to coerce people. Despite the pressure, Marwick Khumalo, who heads of the Pan-African parliamentary observer mission, told the BBC that overall turnout had been low and the mood sombre.
Mr Mugabe came second to Mr Tsvangirai in the first round of the presidential vote in March. Since then, the MDC says some 86 of its supporters have been killed and 200,000 forced from their homes by militias loyal to Zanu-PF.
The government blames the MDC for the violence.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Reports from Niger say at least 17 people have been killed in clashes between the army and members of a Tuareg-led rebel group.
The authorities confirmed there had been fighting around the northern town of Tezirzait and said the dead were all rebels, with no government casualties.
The rebel Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) said 26 government troops died along with seven of its own fighters.
The MNJ is fighting for a larger share of northern Niger's mineral wealth.
Led by the nomadic Tuareg people, the rebels are calling for greater development in the area and a bigger share of the profits from the increasingly lucrative uranium mines.
But the government dismisses them as drug smugglers, arms traffickers and bandits with no political agenda.
The two sides have frequently clashed, with the government ruling out talks until the rebels disarm.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Somali gunmen have freed two UN aid workers from Sweden and Denmark - just hours after seizing them in southern Somalia, UN and Somali officials say.
The aid workers were released without ransom and were safe, a UN security official told Reuters news agency. They will now be flown to Nairobi - the capital of neighbouring Kenya - the officials say. The two - who were working for a UN programme to clear landmines - were kidnapped in Somalia's Bakol region. They were taken from a compound in the town of Hudur, north-west of the capital Mogadishu, by Islamist insurgents, a UN official said earlier.
The UN workers were kidnapped shortly after the town was seized by the insurgents. A resident said there had been fierce exchanges of gunfire between the insurgents and security forces in Hudur.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
28th June 2008
Dear Friends.
I have to admit that when I heard the news that Morgan Tsvangirai had pulled out of the election runoff, my reaction was total despair. Why give up now, I thought, when you were so nearly there? You have just handed Mugabe victory on a plate. Judging by comments I read from Zimbabwe, I wasn't the only one who thought that way. Some MDC supporters were asking what all their beatings and torture had been in aid of? They felt betrayed they said.
I hope that, like me, they have now come to see that it was the only thing Morgan could do. What kind of leader would he be if he was prepared to let his followers be terrorised and burnt out of their homes simply for 'voting the wrong way'? Then we could really have accused him of being interested in power for its own sake; anything just to get into State House. Instead he has done the honourable thing; he has put the people's safety first before his own personal ambitions. It was an agonising decision he had to make but the reality is that even if Morgan had won the second round, Robert Mugabe was never going to concede. 'Only God can remove me' he averred, like some monarch of old claiming the Divine Right of Kings! 'God put me here, only God can remove me.' Someone should remind the Dear Old Man that God works in mysterious ways; in England the last king who made that claim had his head chopped off!
Following Morgan's decision to pull out, there was a massive outpouring from world leaders condemning the violence in Zimbabwe and in the last few days even African leaders have finally found the courage to speak out. And last night it was Mandela himself, here in the UK for his 90th birthday celebrations, who finally expressed his 'sadness' at what is happening in Zimbabwe. It was, said Mandela, 'a tragic failure of leadership'. Quite a mild comment, I would say, but it might have the effect of encouraging other African leaders to speak out, excluding Thabo Mbeki of course. Mbeki remains stubbornly unable to admit that he is wrong, that his Liberation comrade has turned into nothing more than a vicious dictator who fully deserves the opprobrium being poured on his head. Zimbabweans must solve their own problems says Mbeki and Mugabe reinforces the message, 'Let them shout as much as they like in London and Washington, only my people will decide who is to govern Zimbabwe.'
And on June 27th the Zimbabwean people will once again go to the polls but no one should be deceived, there will be nothing free or fair about this election. The violence which I thought would lessen once Morgan pulled out has intensified but the objective now is to force people to vote and since there is only one candidate, it's pretty clear that means Vote for RG Mugabe…or else.
That message came home to me very clearly when I read about the behaviour of a certain Major General Englebert Rugeje in Masvingo on Wednesday this week. All the shops were ordered to close and the population of the town was forced to attend a rally at the local stadium. Having got his captive audience in place, the Major General launched into his tirade. As soon as he started to speak the crowd proceeded to stream towards the exits but armed Youth Militia barred all the gates and the people were forced to listen to his chilling words: ' We are going to make sure you go and vote, not for any person of your choice but for President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. I am not asking you to do so but we will force you to go and vote.' And the Major General continued, 'Zimbabwe is tied to the gun. Therefore anyone who wants to rule this country should forget about voting but find his own guns to rule.' Major General Rugeje is a serving officer in the Zimbabwe Army; he is not some half crazed war veteran whose words can be dismissed as so much Chinotimba-style nonsense. The Major General speaks with the authority of his master, the Commander in Chief of the army, who dismisses the cross on a ballot paper as a mere gesture when compared to the might of the gun. That's democracy Robert Mugabe style.
What can the people do tomorrow as they are 'herded' ( the Major General's term ) towards the polling stations? The simplest solution would be to disappear. Hide out in a hole somewhere until it's all over but even that will not prevent the beating you will get afterwards for not voting. It seems the people have no choice, they will have to cast their vote or risk their very lives. Spoil your ballot paper, the MDC advises but even if you are forced to vote for Mugabe, don't panic because no one is going to recognise the result when he declares himself the 'democratically' elected President of Zimbabwe.
Thabo Mbeki flew in yesterday in a desperate attempt to persuade Mugabe to call off the election. Mbeki's appeal was apparently met with outright rejection. The election will go ahead. Mugabe cares nothing, or so he says, for world opinion but he is looking dangerously isolated. As African voices are now raised against him he threatens to reveal their own faulty democratic credentials. Threats and violence are the only weapons he has left. Like Ian Smith before him, Mugabe is at his most deadly as the day of reckoning draws ever nearer. Will his cronies in the party remain loyal as harsher sanctions are imposed and they can no longer travel abroad, access their ill-gotten gains or send their children to expensive schools abroad?
One day before this sham election, the gallant freedom fighter, Tendayi Biti was released from gaol and what he said about his interrogation reveals much about the fractured state of Zanu PF. They are not the united party they seek to portray. Instead, they are desperate to find out who is making deals to secure advantageous positions in any future Government of National Unity. The rats are fighting among themselves as the ship of state begins to sink. It may take weeks or months but the end is very near, I believe. The sacrifices of the courageous Zimbabwean people will not have been in vain. MDC already has control of the Lower House; hope is not lost, freedom will come and Robert Mugabe and his monstrous ego will sink without trace beneath the waves. Such is the fate of all dictators.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle. PH.
Police in Niger have arrested former Prime Minister Hama Amadou on corruption charges. Mr Amadou is accused by President Mamadou Tandja's government of embezzling state funds. He has denied the charges, saying he is the victim of a politically motivated campaign to stop him standing for president in 2009. Mr Amadou had been the favourite to replace Mr Tandja until he was ousted as prime minister last year.
Police used teargas to stop a demonstration of about 100 people protesting against Mr Amadou's arrest in front of the high court in the capital, Niamey, Reuters news agency reported.
Mr Amadou is accused of embezzling 100m CFA francs (more than $237,000) and could face jail if convicted.
He was prime minster for seven years before leaving office last year in the midst of a separate corruption scandal. Niger is one of the world's poorest countries. It is also a major producer of uranium.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Two Nigerian convicts have been executed in Indonesia, seven years after being caught trying to smuggle heroin into the country.
Samuel Okoye and Hansen Nwaolisa were executed by firing squad in the early hours of Friday, officials said.
The executions were timed to mark the UN anti-drugs day, Indonesia's anti-narcotics agency reportedly said.
Drug traffickers are often sentenced to death in Indonesia, but the penalty has not been carried out since 2004.
The two men, aged 37 and 40, have been held at a high-security prison on Nusakambangan island, central Java, since their conviction for trying to smuggle some 7kg (16lb) of heroin into Indonesia.
"A firing squad of 12 people executed them in an outdoor area some 3km [2 miles] away from their prison," provincial prisons chief Bambang Winahyo told AFP news agency.
The two had made pleas for clemency to the president in 2004, but they were turned down.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
By John Simpson - BBC World Affairs editor, Harare.
When the polls opened this morning, Harare was an empty city.
In the normally busy streets, old newspapers were blowing about in the early sunlight. There were scarcely any cars to be seen.
This election is being held in an atmosphere of intense fear and intimidation: worse than anything I personally have seen around the world in 40 years of reporting.
Everyone knows that if by tonight they cannot show the tell-tale indelible pink mark on their fingers to indicate that they have voted, they are open to violent retribution.
And there are various ways in which the members of the ruling Zanu-PF party who are out in force at all the polling stations can find out exactly who has voted for whom.
The ballot-paper still carries two names and photographs, those of President Robert Mugabe and of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the race last Monday, but it was too late to issue new ballot papers.
He and his party have left it to their supporters to decide for themselves whether to place a protest vote for him.
It is very difficult for reporters to go out on the streets to see for themselves what is happening.
As a result of today's vote Mr Mugabe's rule will continue. So will Zimbabwe's collapse.
Anyone carrying a camera is liable to be arrested, and several Zimbabwean journalists have been picked up this morning.
Scarcely any foreign broadcasting organisations have been given accreditation to cover this election.
One is al-Jazeera, which has a bureau here.
Another is the South African Broadcasting Corporation, though its team was only given permission to come last night - after the election campaign, if that is what is was, had finished.
Harare itself is the main centre of opposition to Robert Mugabe.
Here, people seem to have a certain feeling of safety in numbers.
One man who voted early said he had put his cross against Morgan Tsvangirai's name.
Everyone he spoke to in the queue outside was planning to do the same, he said.
But away from the capital, the voting seems to be slow and unenthusiastic.
According to someone in the town of Karoi, north-west of Harare, the turnout is very low and several people have spoken of spoiling their ballots.
In one ward in Bulawayo, only 50 votes were reported to have been cast by 1100.
During the first round of the presidential election on 29 March, when there was less intimidation, long queues had formed outside the polling booths by the time they opened.
Some people had slept outside them from 0200 or 0300 in the morning.
But at that stage people thought they had a real chance of voting Mr Mugabe out of power.
People will not feel safe moving about with an unmarked finger - Zimbabwean citizen.
When the result eventually came out, it showed that he had been forced humiliatingly into second place, managing to get only 43% of the vote compared with Mr Tsvangirai's 50%.
The MDC maintained that Mr Tsvangirai had in fact received more votes than that, and had won the election outright.
This humiliation explains a great deal of what has followed.
It was then that the campaign of savage intimidation began.
Thousands of people who had supported or voted for Mr Tsvangirai were forced out of their homes, and hundreds were beaten or burned. Many were killed.
Ever since, Zanu-PF gangs have gone through rural villages and towns and cities alike, threatening and attacking MDC supporters.
Their aim, they say, is to ensure that Mr Mugabe is re-elected with 100% of the vote.
Any such overwhelming result would be regarded with a certain derision in the outside world.
In spite of the efforts to stop international news organisations coming here to report, the degree of violence and intimidation is familiar news around the world.
Yet Mr Mugabe will not care.
Sources inside the Zanu-PF leadership say that after the initial shock of the March election, he wanted to step down but was prevented by leading figures around him who had blood on their hands, especially from the massacres in Matabeleland in the 1980s.
Nowadays, he boasts of Zimbabwe's isolation in the world, and maintains that it is a sign of the country's true independence.
As a result, the economy here is now in free-fall.
When I arrived in Harare on Monday, the Zimbabwean dollar had fallen to 9 billion to the US dollar. On Tuesday it was 12 billion, and on Wednesday 15 billion.
Inflation is said to be 165,000%.
One member of my team bought some apples at a supermarket. In between taking them off the shelves and walking over to the check-out desk, he was told apologetically that the price had doubled.
Robert Mugabe blames all this on the western world and its sanctions.
Some people clearly believe him.
Others feel their country is collapsing because of his disastrous management of its affairs.
As a result of today's vote Mr Mugabe's rule will continue.
So will Zimbabwe's collapse.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Two civil servants in the Central African Republic (CAR) have been jailed for three years for forging the president's signature last year. They put Francois Bozize's signature to a letter telling the examination board to pass 44 final-year school students taking their baccalaureate exam.
The court said the accused had accepted money from the pupils' parents. The two, who used the presidential coat of arms on the letter, were also ordered to pay $4,750 each.
The BBC's Junior Lingangue in the capital, Bangui, says exam fraud is common in CAR although incidences have been on the decline because of media exposes.
However, he says, this is the first case in a long time to be prosecuted.
The students were apparently all members of the president's party, AFP news agency reports.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
By Ian Brimacombe - BBC World Service Business.
A 10 million Zimbabwe dollar note was issued this year.
With inflation at several million per cent, miles of government red tape and a vanishing domestic market, running a business in Zimbabwe is not easy.
And yet, somehow, large private Zimbabwean companies are still able to function.
The chief executive of a leading steel business, who for security reasons has asked that his identity is kept secret, has been speaking to the BBC World Service about the daily business conditions he faces.
"It's not much fun," he said. "I'm surrounded by junior employees who are not paid enough money to survive adequately and who you feel can't give their best because they haven't had a decent meal the night before."
The company, which has several operations around the country, employs about 500 people.
On the surface, those employees might be considered lucky - at least they have jobs - but the executive told the BBC he was "depressed" he couldn't properly pay them enough to survive or feed their families.
"I think a lot of people come to work for the good, square meal we try to give them at lunch-time," he said, "but even finding the food to keep our canteen going is not easy."
The executive also told the BBC about the nightmare of trying to navigate through the unstable economic conditions.
In Zimbabwe, the price of goods changes daily, making it extremely difficult to establish the value of a product.
A company may write up an invoice for a product and send it to its buyer, but by the time the buyer receives the bill, the price has changed and everything has to be adjusted.
"You're constantly chasing your tail," said the executive. He also lamented the experience of taking clients out for lunch. "When I go on a business trip," he said, "I'll probably have to take somewhere in the order of four hundred to five hundred billion dollars."
It might sound like a lot, but with inflation estimated at three to five million percent, the money only covers a meal for two plus tip.
It all adds up to an extremely challenging business environment. But the executive said the need to survive pushes businesses into a culture where rules are there to be broken and loopholes are there to be exploited.
He acknowledges that, as a result, Zimbabwean businessmen might be described by some as "rather chancy characters." But it's the game they have to play. "If we ever move back into a normal time", he said, "we're going to have to be rehabilitated."
You can hear the entire interview on Thursday on The BBC World Service's "World Business Report" programme.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Electricity supply is irregular and many Nigerians rely on generators.
Nigeria needs $85bn (£42.7bn) of investment in its power infrastructure in order to produce electricity 24 hours a day, experts say.
The sum is 17 times the amount the government announced it would spend on the power sector, and four and a half times the country's oil savings.
Most of Nigeria's 140m residents live without reliable power.
The sum was given by a panel of experts appointed by President Umaru Yar'Adua after nine months research.
Their final report has not been released to the public.
NIGERIA ELECTRICITY FACTS
Currently generates 1,800MW
Nigeria wants to generate 6,000MW by 2009
In 12 years it wants to be able to generate 20,000MW
Would need 100,000MW to become an industrialised economy, according to the ex-president
Six power stations begun under the last administration have not been completed
$16bn (£8bn) has so far been spent on the power sector since 1999
But the panel's chairman Rilwanu Lukman told journalists the power generation in the country had dropped to 1,800 megawatts (MW), from a capacity of 3,500MW.
He also said even if the country's power stations were working at full capacity, the transmission grid was broken down and neglected.
"The grid is very weak much of the equipment is currently responsible for causing the power cuts across the country," he said.
The country's short-term goal of 6,000MW by 2009 would cost $3bn (£1.5bn), Mr Lukman said.
The government announced last week it would spend $5bn (£2.5bn) from the nation's oil windfall on the power sector.
Mr Lukman said there were not enough engineers in the country to work in power stations or maintain the electricity grid.
Nigeria wants to become one of the world's top 20 economies by 2020.
But in May the president said the continual power cuts were preventing investment in the country.
The government is working on plans to attract private investors by subsidising their electricity bills, the finance ministry said this month.
Before his election last year Mr Yar'Adua said he would declare a "state of emergency" on power.
Correspondents say revamping the power sector remains one of his greatest challenges.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Radio is the most important media outlet in Kenya.
The Kenyan government has threatened to suspend the licence of a vernacular radio station for broadcasting what it terms inflammatory content.
The government says Kass FM, which broadcasts in the Kalenjin language, was broadcasting material that was a threat to national security.
The charges relate to call-in programmes discussing poll violence.
But the station has denied the allegations, saying there is no evidence to support the claims.
In February, the government threatened to revoke the licences of vernacular stations, accusing them of incitement during the post-election violence which left at least 1,500 people dead.
Radio is the most popular medium, especially in rural areas, and among the illiterate.
Kass FM is based in Nairobi but broadcasts to the Rift Valley, scene of some of the worst violence, between Kalenjins and members of the Kikuyu community.
Information permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo said some of the content aired by Kass FM was "prejudicial to national security, national cohesion and national peace, healing and reconciliation process".
Mr Ndemo said the station had failed to observe journalistic ethics and standards.
He was referring to programmes debating the idea of an amnesty for those arrested during the elections violence, as well as during recent by-elections.
The station defended its right to air comment on matters of public interest.
"So far there is no definite proof that proves any of the claims," the station's operations manager Joshua Sang said.
The station has been given until Friday to defend itself against the allegations.
The Media Council of Kenya has also criticized the move, warning that the government was at risk of interfering with press freedom.
"It would be tragic if the government withdraws the licence," chairman Wachira Waruru said.
The government and the media have had an uneasy relationship, following raids on two private media outlets, a proposal to tighten media controls, and a ban on live broadcasts in January.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
By Genevieve Hassan - Entertainment reporter, BBC News.
Stars of the international music world are gathering in London for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert.
Loyiso will perform a duet with British singer Jamelia. Annie Lennox, Leona Lewis, Amy Winehouse and Simple Minds are among the artists performing at the Hyde Park gig. Many South African acts have also flown in to participate in the celebrations.
R&B star and multi-South African Music Awards winner Loyiso Bala, who will be singing a duet with Jamelia, is one such performer. He is also an ambassador for Mandela's 46664 Aids charity. "It's such a great honour to have been asked to come and sing and be part of the celebration," he says. "Especially when I'm only one of three or four South African artists who have asked to come, so there's no greater honour. Of the many highlights I've had in my life this one is definitely the biggest."
"I did the song with Corinne Bailey Rae at a previous 46664 concert in Johannesburg in December," he says. "This time I'm singing the parts Corinne did and Jamelia is doing parts I did so I have to re-learn the song. "But it's been great - there's a great excitement and there's a great spirit from everyone because everyone knows why they're here. It's not about how big the artists are."
Kurt Darren, one of South Africa's most popular Afrikaans singers, is also on the bill. Kurt Darren is one of the most popular Afrikaans singers in South Africa "Rehearsals are going fine although I've not seen the stage yet - we're doing sound-checks for the first time on Thursday," Darren says. "I'm doing one song with Eddy Grant - Give Me Hope Johanna. It's straight after we sing Happy Birthday to Mr Mandela so it's an awesome slot."
The opportunity of performing for Mandela has added significance for the pair, who were both born in South Africa.
"The reason I am able to enjoy the freedom I now have and be able to travel around the world and enjoy the privileges I now have is because of Mr Mandela," Loyiso says. "I'm very grateful to God for having brought such a great man into my life and I'm grateful I'm living in his time because if I was living 10 years earlier I wouldn't be able to enjoy this freedom I now enjoy."
Darren has also previously met the former South African president: "I can honesty say that nothing or no one will ever impress me again - there's just something about the man that is great," he says. "You can ask anyone in South Africa or in the world about who they'd like to meet and they'll say Mandela because he's got this aura."
As well as performing, the stars are also looking forward to seeing other artists on stage. "It's an amazing and awesome opportunity to be with all those stars. There's going to be such a vibe backstage," says Darren. "I'm looking forward to seeing Queen and Paul Rodgers, Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse."
Loyiso is also excited at the prospect of meeting other stars. "I went to rehearsal a couple of days ago and it was right after Amy Winehouse so I was pretty starstruck as she's got mad skills," he says. "But it's really not about us - we're merely just here to celebrate Mandela's birthday and he'll be the star for the night."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Police in Johannesburg recently had to deal with anti-immigrant riots.
South African police opened fire on each other as national officers tried to break up a strike by local forces in Johannesburg, officials have said. National police intervened to break up a strike by metro officers that was blocking traffic. Seven metro police officers were injured, they said.
A union official denied that local police had fired live rounds in response to rubber bullets.
The protest was triggered by complaints about salaries and nepotism.
South African Police Service (SAPS) Superintendent Eugene Opperman said the confrontation began when metro police who were blocking traffic refused to move.
"SAPS then used rubber bullets to disperse them," he said. "They fired back with live bullets... We only used rubber bullets all through."
But Vincent Vena of the South African Municipal Workers Union challenged Supt Opperman's account.
"If our members had fired live bullets at the SAPS, there would have been a bloodbath," he said.
Correspondents say police in South Africa have a reputation for being heavy handed.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
