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Zimbabwe opposition salute denounced

    JOHANNESBURG

    The government is considering a petition to ban the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) open hand salute, state television reported on Thursday.

    The report said that a group of ruling party lawmakers and fundamentalist christian clerics said the MDC salute gave "political connotations to normal greetings and farewells". "Waving hands is an international symbol of happiness created by God and using it on political grounds is a total violation of human rights."

    State television said the petition was drafted by three ruling party lawmakers and clerics from the Emakhandeni Church of Christ, a fundamentalist group in western Zimbabwe. Meanwhile an MDC spokesman was quoted as saying that the move was part of a "continuing clampdown on government opponents".

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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