Mugabe denies plot to kill Zuma and his adviser on Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWE’S Movement for Democratic Change has warned President Jacob Zuma and his adviser, Lindiwe Zulu, to be “vigilant” after a supposed intelligence report claimed there was a plot to assassinate them.

President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has dismissed the claim as “rubbish” and accused the MDC of using it to justify its call for “outside forces” to come to Zimbabwe ahead of the July 31 elections.

On Friday, the Guardian in Britain reported on the document, which alleges that Mugabe had hired “six Lebanese nationals to try to assassinate Lindiwe Zulu . . . The six were told they must not concentrate on Zulu only, but should also pay attention to Zuma.”

Diplomatic sources in Pretoria said Zuma was unfazed.

“We are not going to panic about those things,” said a source.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora suggested that the language used in the document was similar to that used by ZanuPF militias. He said the authenticity of the document could not be verified, but “I wouldn’t ignore a thing like that, so I would urge [Zuma and Zulu] to be careful, in case it is true”.

The document reportedly claimed that the six Lebanese had met “clandestinely” with Mugabe.

Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said the document was the work of “counterintelligence” agents who wanted to drive a wedge between Pretoria and Harare.

“It’s all rubbish . . . we know there are various counterintelligence [agents] in the region who want to make the coming election look unfree and also unfair. [This] usually comes from counterintelligence, from outside. Some of our guys here are not intelligent enough to concoct such a thing,” said Gumbo.

He said the MDC’s call for an investigation into the allegations showed its desperation.

Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, would not comment on the claims.

Mugabe called Zulu — part of Zuma’s facilitation team in Zimbabwe — a “street woman” during a rally last week.

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