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7 000 held in Zim clampdown
26/05/2005 21:23 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwean police have arrested another 7 000 people as part of a countrywide campaign against illegal activities, state radio reported on Thursday.
The radio report said 7 650 people were arrested in the central city of Gweru, 270km south of the capital Harare, for offences including "gold panning, hoarding and overcharging of basic commodities as well as illegal foreign currency dealing".
The arrests bring to more than 17 000 the total number of people arrested in the country in just over a week since the launch of a police crackdown dubbed "Operation Restore Order". Some of those arrested in Gweru paid fines, while others had been taken to court, the radio said.
Residents told to remain peaceful
Earlier on Thursday police warned Harare residents not to fight back against the ongoing campaign, a day after the stiffest resistance yet to the operation.
On Wednesday angry residents and traders in the poor district of Glen View went on the rampage, stoning riot police who had torched a popular marketplace.
A supermarket and several shops were looted, while a council building and a state-run bus were damaged in the fray, the State-controlled Herald newspaper reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile state radio warned people living in illegal settlements around Harare to vacate their homes, as police would target them next.
Chronic food shortages
Zimbabwe has been in the grip of chronic shortages of basic commodities like sugar, fuel and the staple mealie meal since parliamentary elections on March 31 won by President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party.
The government accuses Zimbabwe's massive informal sector, which has burgeoned in recent years due to spiralling unemployment, of fuelling the black market in scarce goods.
Critics of the clean-up campaign have accused the police force of trampling on the rights of citizens, many of whom are said to be licensed traders trying to make an honest living.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims the police action is aimed at punishing its urban supporters. - Sapa-dpa
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