These rumors of military training by the MDC are not new and have surfaced a number of times in South African newspapers. Tsvangirai, has visited right-wing white racists Africans. It was widely reported in South African media, that he was flown to meet an extreme white Afrikana. If these allegations are true, then we ought to look at the violence also committed by the MDC. This is in part a response to the brutal repression of Mugabe's secret militia.

The MDC in aligning themselves with extreme military right wing in South Africa, automatically makes them the enemy of Southern Africa. The MDC is walking a fine line here and it could be exploited by the mugabe proganda machine.

I think people of Zimbabwe and other SADC countries should avoid violence as a response to the repression unleashed by the Mugabe regime. The guy is very old and will die soon. Everybody should focus on what may happen after that. Once mugabe dies, his paper tiger "generals" will need to be replaced quickly otherwise the younger officers in the Zimbabwe army will revolt against the "generals". Zimbabwe's neighbours will then need to help Zimbabwe rebuild itself. in the life of a nation another few years is a short time. Let us hope that the tyrant dies soon and the "generals" are removed. After that the new government can invite all the talented sons and daughters of Zimbabwe to put their heads together and work hard and restore the nation to its greatness.

Uk/US wants war, it has taken ten years to effect regime change with no success and their only option is physical invasion to stop Mugabe from kicking western business out. The foreign policy of the west has not changed for centuries, Africa had been colonised while the UN body looked on and today it will still be the same if not much easy for they now have effective propaganda tabloids.

The great Western invasion of 2008.. yes that's going to be in the Zimbabwean history books... not. Civil war of 2008? More likely. When faced with a intransigent, overwhelmingly powerful, repressive government, what have brutalised people done time after time in history? They eventually start fighting back in whatever way they can. What may be stirring now amongst those who are anti-Mugabe, who have seen the lawful progress of the MDC attaining power blocked and frustrated at every turn by Zanu-PF, who are being attacked and victimised for their political stance, is exatly what stirred amongst the blacks in the 50's and 60's in Rhodesia and South Africa. The more brutality and control Mugabe tries to exert, the greater the risk of anything from a continuous insurgency to an all-out civil war erupting. Mugabe is still pushing the big red button of hate and fear with no regard to the consequences for his 'beloved' Zimbabwe. Tsvangerai can appeal for peace as much as he likes, but Mugabe is the one pushing the ordinary people beyond the point of no return and giving those willing to be violent an excuse to justify their revengeful actions.

onesoul. you have no idea. You've been smoking too much of something to be believing that the UK or US would bother to invade Zim. It really isnt that important.

It may be very noble to be peaceful for many other nations. For Zimbabwe this is the third stolen election because of the tooo peACEFUL NATURE OF ZIMBABWEANS. WQE nEED TO FIGHT . iF INDEED THERE IS ANY MILITARY TRAINING WHAT IS THE MOTIVE OF BUSINESSDAY WRITING ABOUT IT? sO IT CAN BE CRASHED BEFORE IT TAKES ROOT? WE ARE LONG OVERDUE FOR A MILLITARYY WING. Thabo Mbeki and other Afrcan leaders would take us more seriously if we had an army fighting. So far Mbeki is busy promoting Mugabe because he has an army and pretending there will be civil war because of sanctions. effectively balackmailing any mugabe pressure. We Need an army. Military training yes Zana

as zimbaweans the only way left is arms struggle . i think the's very mixed feelings on the international . they have proved they can't solve our nation by letting mugabe get away with all this mess . mdc should stop talking to them and take a hush step . even if mugabe dies today the army genersls are going to do the same and we will never lift our heads .'l always be their pets

Phiri, you seem to know all the wrongs of MDC and you comment on every article against MDC. Are you Zimbabwean by the way or you seem to be on duty. Good luck and i hope whatever the killings you comment on them. I am not Zanu or MDC but i cannot say murders are justified. Whoever gives you info hopefully is not brainwashing you like Greenbombers who have now been abandoned, because if you remember well every opposition leader in zimbabwe has once been charged with treason or training militants, so this is not new. maybe to you.

Businessday is not helping by writing this . It is irritating that at the forefront of pushing zimbabweans ten steps back you find Mbeki and South Africa. Now This SA paper wants The MDC Decimated by writing an irresponsibl;e article. What proof do you have about your allegations? And even if it were true which I assume it is not, What is it to you? After writing so many times about how zimbabweans should solve their own problems, Why are you now meddling? This is first class meddling trying to cause trouble. Stirring the up trouble pretending there indeed is an army so as to justiFY THE KILLING OF mdc CIVILIANS BY zANU pf.

Chirandu, what you are saying is not true. Read thru my comments and you will find that I have been balanced. I do not always write wrongs about the MDC...that is an inaccurate statements. I have spoken against the tactics of Zanu-pf for some time now.

Pointing out that Tsvangirai has been seen in the company of right wing white afrikaners who are considered brutal murders of black south Africans is the right things to do. The goal for Zimbabwe is not just change/remove Mugabe, but have a responsible leader to take over!

Most Zimbabweans, including myself are concerned about the potential of Tsvangirai being a good leader and holding the country together. Chiluba took over from President Kaunda and he was worse than what most Zambians expected. Let's face it, both Mugabe and Tsvangirai can/should be able to take some criticism. And in my writing, I have have provided criticism for both...read my comments for yourself!

All options should be on the table.

Once again one just has to dig a little deeper to see what fiction this story is. This story was written on the back of a TV piece from the Zim’ One channel.

If one actually bothers to refer to the report in question it can be seen that this is not the case.

The HSRC to their credit have already debunked this story:

"A television station last night stated in a broadcast that the report claimed that "the MDC is arming itself". This was a distortion that ignored details within the policy report, discussions at the press conference, the media release, and follow-up questions with journalists, including their own.

The HSRC would like to distance itself from any impression that the report claims that the "MDC is arming" itself. We refer our readers to pages 15-17 of the report, where the issue of the MDC and violence is discussed. What appears in these pages is a more nuanced scientific discourse than simple "propaganda"."

I could hire myself out to the highest bidder, I am after all a member of arguably the most well trained and battle hardened armed force in the world. I could train you to operate a rifle and principles of marksmanship, how to assemble and deploy explosives.........but I am at a loss to say what use that training would be if you don’t have weapons or explosives. McGarbage and his thugs are the ones who hold a monopoly on firearms and, "coercive" equipment. As I have previously stated, Zimbabwe has under equipped hospitals but has state of the art anti-riot equipment(courtesy of China)

The line which states that, "it appeared MDC supporters were starting to undergo training in order to protect themselves from attack", is not military training. It is basic survival training; military training doesn't cover protecting yourself from the state in which you live.

Glyph, I do not agree that the story has no basis. Tsvangirai has been spotted with right wing racists murderous Afrikaners. Some of them are considered enemies of the new Mandela nation. I do not like the story myself, but why not let the facts lead.

You are kidding yourself if you think President Mbeki's gov't is not keeping a tab on Tsvangirai. Of cause they are watching him...Look at what Tsvangirai has been saying about President Mbeki?

Phiri - All, not just some, 'right wing racists murderous Afrikaners' would be enemies of the new Mandela nation. However, to the extent that such Afrikaners do exist (and like in any society anywhere in the world there are some people who are right wing murderous racists) they would be only a very small percentage of the Afrikaner people of South Africa. The South Africa of today is a very different place to that of 10 or 20 years ago and the Afrikaner people have changed with the country. So you need to be a little bit careful when adding the term Afrikaner with right wing racist murderers as it implies that the being the former is naturally associated with the latter. That is no more true than saying Africa is not capable of good governance. Both positions are simply wrong.

Assuming that Morgan Tsvangerai has met with Afrikaners in SA, do we know for sure that they are of the type of people you describe? I find it implausible that any elements in South Africa could support an armed resistance in Zimbabwe without the wholehearted support of the ANC; therefore it will not happen.

Also, does the fact that the MDC and Morgan Tsvangerai have been critical of Thabo Mbeki in his capacity as mediator necessarily make him an enemy of Mbeki? To make such an assumption is a little akin to the Zanu-pf concept that anyone critical of Mugabe as the President of Zimbabwe is tantamount to being a traitor to Zimbabwe.

If my comments appeared as though I was lumping all Afrikaners into a “Racists” category, that is not what I intended! I merely wanted to say that Tsvangirai was/has been seen with this very small white armed Afrikaner right wingers! I have known an Afrikaner family over a decade and they are very committed to Africa and are very decent people.

I too have been criticized for my comments on Tsvangirai and been lumped with Robert Mugabe. In any shape or form do I support Mugabe. Even Zanu-pf supporters do not necessary support him any more. That said, Zanu-pf supporters have a right to examine Tsvangirai’s associations or conduct.

Phiri - I have always enjoyed your contributions to this site. I think that you have managed to keep your eyes open to all aspects of the crisis in Zimbabwe but at the same time have never lost sight on the principle problem arising from zanu-pf losing its way as a liberation party to become the corrupt and despotic illegal regime that it is.

I suspect that like you, I have grave reservations about the ability of Tsvangerai to lead the country forward. He appears prone to making some pretty profound errors of judgement and at the same time appears to be rather autocratic in his party dealings. I question whether he will listen to advice from others when he is in power. Nevertheless, so appalling is the situation in Zimbabwe at the moment, and so unable is zanu-pf to solve those problems, that I feel that above all other considerations Tsvangerai needs to be given that opportunity to turn the country around.

Katz, I agree with what you have said. I also believe that most people now view Robert Mugabe for who he is...a dictator who will not give up power easily. The whole experience of seeing Mugabe actually lose the first election was an eye opener to most Zimbabweans, if not a shock! What Tsvangirai needs to do now is to project the image of a winner and a leader.