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Margaret Thatcher was behind the Gukurahundi massacres, claims Dabengwa
09 Apr 2013 at 06:38hrs | Views
Zapu's current leader and former ZIPRA commander Dumiso Dabengwa - who was thrown in jail without trial after independence - has accused Margaret Thatcher of having been part and parcel of a plot to destroy Zipra and Zapu as a party. He also alleges that Thatcher supported the Gukurahundi massacres.
Thatcher had a good relationship with President Robert Mugabe and their relationship grew stronger after independence when Mugabe became Prime Minister.
The "Iron Lady" was British Prime Minister during the Gukurahundi massacres where 20 000 Ndebele people are estimated to have been killed by Mugabe's North Korean trained Fifth Brigade between 1983 and 1987.
"The British covered it up and went on to knight Mugabe in 1994, four years after Thatcher left office," said a commentator who did not want to be identified.
Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa remembers Thatcher as the British leader who at least managed to bring development towards a ceasefire in Zimbabwe, but said her government was part of a plot to destroy his party's armed wing - Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra).
Dabengwa said: "We in Zipra accuse the British of having been part and parcel of that plot to destroy Zipra and to destroy Zapu as a party. They were responsible. In fact we think they hired the North Koreans to do that because the British themselves did not want blood on their hands."
Dabengwa said the British worked behind the scenes during the Matebeland disturbance and made sure there was no publicity about the atrocities in their own country.
"They stated it very clearly. We know it. Zipra was too close to the Russians. It was during the Cold War and Russia was the enemy, so similarly Zipra was the enemy," the Zapu leader said.
Thatcher had a good relationship with President Robert Mugabe and their relationship grew stronger after independence when Mugabe became Prime Minister.
The "Iron Lady" was British Prime Minister during the Gukurahundi massacres where 20 000 Ndebele people are estimated to have been killed by Mugabe's North Korean trained Fifth Brigade between 1983 and 1987.
Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa remembers Thatcher as the British leader who at least managed to bring development towards a ceasefire in Zimbabwe, but said her government was part of a plot to destroy his party's armed wing - Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra).
Dabengwa said: "We in Zipra accuse the British of having been part and parcel of that plot to destroy Zipra and to destroy Zapu as a party. They were responsible. In fact we think they hired the North Koreans to do that because the British themselves did not want blood on their hands."
Dabengwa said the British worked behind the scenes during the Matebeland disturbance and made sure there was no publicity about the atrocities in their own country.
"They stated it very clearly. We know it. Zipra was too close to the Russians. It was during the Cold War and Russia was the enemy, so similarly Zipra was the enemy," the Zapu leader said.
Source - swradio
