War veterans storm aid agency and more businesses

Business leaders warned on Wednesday that raids by self-styled war veterans and ruling party militants on businesses and a German aid agency threatened to collapse the already crumbling economy, AP reported. Militants forced their way into offices of a Harare trucking company on Wednesday and demanded pay increases for workers.

The black chief executive at Barbours, a luxury downtown department store, was forced by militants to chant ruling party slogans after workers called him a "front" for the white store owners, managers said. The store was closed on Wednesday. Executives at a gold mine near Kadoma, 140 km southwest of Harare, said on Wednesday they received a written notice from militants that threatened occupation of mines owned by white companies.

No occupation had occurred, but the notice said militants were willing to "negotiate" for a stake in the mine. On Tuesday at least 20 militants stormed the office of a German aid agency and forced its officials to pay US $11,000 to two Zimbabwean employees laid off in 1999. The two former employees had a case pending before the state labour tribunal.

"It was extortion," said Felix Schmidt, head of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, an educational charity. Schmidt said he and staff members were threatened with assault during the six hour occupation and that he paid the money to avoid violence and bloodshed. Fritz Flimm, the German ambassador, called government officials but no action was taken to stop the occupation.

Police were present but did not intervene, saying the militants were negotiating in a labour dispute, Schmidt said. Also on Tuesday, militants assaulted managers at another downtown department store owned by the nation's largest retailing chain and also occupied offices of a private hospital and a steel firm.

Executives said the militants demanded the rehiring of fired employees or large compensation payouts. Another German aid agency, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was closed on Wednesday after its officials received telephone threats late on Tuesday.

After a spate of such incidents in the past two weeks, Zed Rusike, head of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), representing thousands of factories and commercial businesses, said on Wednesday the intimidation shows "complete disregard for Zimbabwean laws and will drive the nation into total anarchy and (do) irreparable damage to industry." He said the actions would hasten the closure of companies and raise unemployment.