Zanu PF a terrorist group - Sikhala

HARARE, July 30, 2010 – Outspoken MDC 99 leader, Job Sikhala says President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party is a terrorist organization which should be treated the same way with Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda.

In a statement Thursday while responding to the alleged bombing of his bus in Chitungwiza last week, Sikhala said Zimbabweans have been living under a terrorist organization since 1980 when the country attained independence.

“The recent bombing of my family by suspected terrorists from Zanu PF has hardened our resolve to fight against internal terrorism introduced into our lives by the Zanu PF regime until it is defeated.

“The people of Zimbabwe remember that in the 1980s, the Zanu PF terrorism regime slaughtered more than 20 000 innocent supporters of the late Dr Joshua Nkomo.

“We all remained silent in fear of a terror backlash. The same happened since formation of the MDC in 1999 when thousands of the party supporters were killed, maimed and tortured.

"It has proved to the MDC 99 beyond any reasonable doubt that there is no way you can distinguish Al-Shabaab of Somalia, Al-Qaeda and all other terrorist groupings from Zanu PF.

“MDC99 urges the international community to slap restrictive measures against anyone associated with the terrorist organisation called Zanu PF,” said Sikhala in his statement.

Sikhala was in the main MDC before it split and joined the smaller faction led by Arthur Mutambara. He again fell out with Mutambara to form his own MDC99, claiming his party was the most legitimate one of the three factions which includes Tsvangirai’s larger faction.