Spy tells of plot to kill Mugabe: [2 Edition]
David Nason, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 Feb 2002: 9.
Abstract
Ari Ben-Menashe, now a principal of the Montreal-based political consultants Dickens and Madsen, said an associate of Mr [Morgan Tsvangirai] had asked him to arrange the [Robert Mugabe] killing at a meeting in London last October.
"He (Tsvangirai) tried to hire us to kill Mugabe," Mr Ben- Menashe told The Australian from Montreal last night.
The Dateline report said the fee for the Mugabe assassination was $US500,000 ($980,000) plus the promise of lucrative contracts from a future Tsvangirai government. SBS identified a British company which it claimed was the vehicle through which an assassination downpayment of $US97,000 was made to Dickens and Madsen.
A FORMER Israeli intelligence agent last night accused Zimbabwean Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe before next month's national elections.
Ari Ben-Menashe, now a principal of the Montreal-based political consultants Dickens and Madsen, said an associate of Mr Tsvangirai had asked him to arrange the Mugabe killing at a meeting in London last October.
Mr Ben-Menashe, a shadowy figure once described by the Jerusalem Post as a "notorious chronic liar", said he informed the Zimbabwean security authorities of the assassination plot.
He was then paid by the Zimbabwean authorities to swap sides and gather information about Mr Tsvangirai's complicity in the plan.
The result was footage filmed by a hidden camera that shows Mr Tsvangirai talking about suspending the elections and sharing power with the Zimbabwean armed forces after Mr Mugabe's "elimination".
The footage, reportedly taken at a meeting in Montreal in December, was the centrepiece of a special report by Australian journalist Mark Davis on SBS Television's Dateline program last night.
"He (Tsvangirai) tried to hire us to kill Mugabe," Mr Ben- Menashe told The Australian from Montreal last night.
"It was an illegal matter, so we immediately reported it to the authorities."
Mr Ben-Menarshe, who has lived at various times in Iran, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Sri Lanka and Australia, is the author of the controversial 1992 book Profits of War, an account of the international arms trade.
He said Dickens and Madsen would issue a full statement today on their involvement in the attempted assassination.
The Dateline report said the fee for the Mugabe assassination was $US500,000 ($980,000) plus the promise of lucrative contracts from a future Tsvangirai government. SBS identified a British company which it claimed was the vehicle through which an assassination downpayment of $US97,000 was made to Dickens and Madsen.
But speaking to The Australian last night, the head of the British company dismissed the allegations as "preposterous".
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change shocked Mr Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party when it won nearly half the seats in Zimbabwe's last parliamentary elections in June 2000.
A former trade union leader, Mr Tsvangirai enjoys strong support from Western countries such as Britain, the US and Australia, which have condemned Mr Mugabe's support for the takeover of white-owned farms by Zimbabwe's black rural poor.
Mr Tsvangirai was regarded as a strong prospect to topple Mr Mugabe in the presidential election due on March 9. However, he now faces the prospect of international condemnation and possible criminal charges over the alleged assassination attempt.
Illustration
Caption: Caught on camera: Footage from the Dateline program; right, Mr Mugabe, top, and Mr Tsvangirai; Photo: Photo
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