The Herald
MDC-T members of the inclusive Government were conspicuous by their absence at the Harare International Airport yesterday, where their Zanu-PF counterparts and hundreds of jubilant Zimbabweans gathered to welcome Islamic Republic of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is here for a State visit.
The Herald has it on good authority that all senior officials in the inclusive Government were asked to be present, but only those from Zanu-PF and MDC showed up.
Similarly, none were present as President Ahmadinejad toured the Modzone Enterprises factory in Chitungwiza and at the commissioning of the tractor assembly plant in the Willowvale industrial area.
Modzone was formed after Iranian investors injected capital to revive the then Cone Textiles which had collapsed while the tractor project is another joint venture between Iran and Zimbabwe.
It is understood that the MDC-T leadership was considering not attending the Iranian leader's official opening of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo today in solidarity with Western nations opposed to Mr Ahmadinejad's leadership.
Later in the evening, ministers Giles Mutsekwa (co-Home Affairs) and Eliphas Mukonoweshuro turned up at State House to append their signatures to agreements between Zimbabwe and Iran.
Yesterday, only deputy national organising secretary Mr Morgan Komichi could be reached to explain their conspicuous absence and he expressed ignorance of President Ahmadinejad's visit.
"I'm not even aware that he is coming today (yesterday). There is a delegation going to the Trade Fair tomorrow (today) but I'm not sure if (party leader) Mr (Morgan) Tsvangirai is going," he said.
Asked to explain the absence of their partners in the inclusive Government, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said: "I hadn't noticed. Maybe they will be there at the Trade Fair."
However, it is understood the party had made a deliberate decision to snub President Ahmadinejad with Internet sites quoting the party's officials badmouthing the Iranian leader.
A senior Government official said: "Diplomats from other countries were there except those from Western embassies. People should not consider it a coincidence that Western diplomats were not there and MDC-T was also absent.
"What they (MDC-T) forget is that they are taking a Westerners' position. Those people are not Zimbabweans and they will leave the country.
"The MDC-T people will remain here and live here. They have no other home and to toe such lines is to their detriment."
Another official said it was strange the MDC-T-run council in Bindura had conferred on former Iranian ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Rasoul Momeni with the Freedom of the City.
Last week, MDC-T's information department issued a statement in which they said hosting President Ahmadinejad was "like inviting a mosquito to cure malaria".
Observers last night said MDC-T was simply dancing to the tune of Western countries, which have tried to effect illegal regime change in Iran since the popular 1979 revolution that deposed the Western-backed puppet regime of Shah Reza Pahlavi.
...AS SATANIC RIGHTIST BIGOTS SEE THE SPECK IN THE EYE
Call it a meeting of the evil minds: anti-White, Marxist, Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe has welcomed anti-Israeli, Socialist, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into his country with open arms and a 21-gun salute.Ahmadinejad came to open the 51st edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulowayo on Friday, where Iran is the largest player. He is the first leader from outside the African continent to open the event since Rhodesia was taken over by Communists in 1980.Many Western nations have steered clear of the trade fair since Mugabe began his racist eviction of White farmers from their homeland farms 10 years ago.A communique from the Zimbabwe Iran Joint Commission released before Ahmadinejad arrived said that the two nations were committed to "the promotion of peace and stability in their respective regions" and welcomed Iran's proposals to host an international nuclear disarmament conference.It also said that the two countries agreed to create a joint investment company to help develop industry, energy, mining, water management and social and financial servicesIran will also donate US$2 million to Zimbabwe for health services.Iran has already invested in Zimbabwe through a joint venture to build tractors there. One assembly plant has already been built with state-of-the-art equipment in Willowvale.In an editorial The Daily Herald, believed by many to be a mouthpiece for Mugabe's Zanu-PF, praised the Iranian leader and said "The West's neocolonial agenda should only make us stronger."The Herald also quoted Ahmadinejad as condemning "all Satanic pressures imposed on Zimbabwe and these powerful countries are doomed, they will not be successful." - The Right Perspective
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