Friendly fire!

The truth behind the Shiri shooting

Zimbabwe's Air Force commander Perence Shiri, the target of an attemped assassination on Sunday morning, was shot at by his own side. My sources reveal that Shiri was the victim of a plot hatched by the feared spy agency the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

Four hitmen armed with machine guns waylaid Shiri as he was driving back from his farm in Shamva, a mining town in Mashonaland Central. The plan was to fire first at the car, forcing it into a ditch, and then to finish off the Air Marshal at point blank range.

Three bullets hit Shiri's vehicle, one of them wounding him in the shoulder. But it is understood that he pulled out a pistol and returned fire, forcing the hitmen to flee. He later received treatment for the wound at the hospital at Manyame Air Force Base.

My source in the CIO told me that Shiri, who is a member of the Joint Operations Command, the military junta that virtually rules Zimbabwe today, was targeted because of his growing stature within the ruling Zanu-PF party.

"He has begun to rival the Zimbabwe Army Commander, Constantine Chiwenga," I was told. "Chiwenga is determined to succeed Mugabe, so it was decided that Shiri should be eliminated."

There was also a suspicion within Zanu-PF that Shiri had been in secret contact with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with a view to achieving immunity from prosecution, in the event of the MDC taking power in the country.

Immunity is something Shiri would surely need. His name is still cursed in parts of Zimbabwe, because in the 1980s he personally masterminded the infamous Gukurahundi operation, in which 20,000 Ndebeles in the Matebeleland region were massacred.

Now of course the government will attempt to blame the assassination attempt on some mythical opposition force allied to the MDC. Most Zimbabweans will reject this explanation. We have long known that, if you join the turbulent ranks of Zanu-PF, you will find you have more enemies inside the party than out.

Comments

[Alex Henderson]

There seem to be so many different stories about what actually happened to Shiri, it's really hard to be sure. Both the MDC and ZANU-PF have good reason to want him dead.

This is exactly the kind of flashpoint that Zimbabwe needs to start a general uprising. As seen at the UN today, change in Zimbabwe is going to have to come from within and small acts like this could just start it off. I just with whoever had tried to shoot him could have done the job properly.

[Dave]

Amen to that. !!

[Moyo]

Shiri deserved to die. For us the Ndebeles who were in Matebeleland in the early 80s we know what he is capable of doing. One thing is certain Zanu PF do not trust him. He has become big-headed over years.

[DC]

I sorry to say I laughed when I read this. FOUR (4) CIO hitmen with machine guns were no match for ONE (1) guy with a pistol! Brilliant!

If this is the calibre of hitmen in ZANU-PF then Mugabe is in more trouble than he realises. Maybe he only hires incompetent bafoons so that he does not have to worry about being killed by his own guys.

On the other hand the CIO probably only gets to practice murder and torture on unarmed civilians so have never learnt to deal with returned fire.

[Carlmadzi]

This was a stage played attempted murder of Perence Shiri so that this can be blamed on opposition forces. I can assure you, Zimbabwean opposition forces have no arms, because if they had,they would have used them a long time ago!Zanu-PF is looking for an excuse to stop the GNU talks by declaring STATE OF EMERGENCY indefinately.

[Chris]

The people who wanted to kill Shiri should not be called profesional hitmen-they are coward hitmen. Surely profesional hitmen with automatic weapons can not fail to kill someone armed with a pistol.

[arthur]

Surely signs of times are fast coming.....you dont need a prophet to foretell the end of these Harare brutes, they will be caught when they least expect. it shall be sudden news too good to be ture whne they shall tell us that the Old man has gone to sleep very soon

[RMacleod]

Unless there is defenceless people involved they cannot do anything right,can they!
It is a reminder of the time in 1980 when there was an attempt to blow Mugabe up at Masvingo airport and he vanished into the bush for 48 hrs like a scared rabbit, they failed again did'nt they. Just imagine how different it would have been if they had been successful.

[When Will Mugabe Get it]

Here is proof of a UK based conspiracy to kill Mugabe.
http://www.whenwillmugabekickthebucket.fusiveweb.co.uk

[Brenda]

A group of South African bloggers at 24.com are campaigning for funds and provisions for the refugee Zimbabweans at Musina via 'Save the Children' a registered charity.
I anyone reading this blog is in a position to contribute, please read the Stray Cat blog at http://blogs.24.com/ViewComments.aspx?mid=d23ff232-68d2-40d1-81dd-395439ad44fb&blogid=8c214a8f-9475-4a8a-8504-d9a74091d4d7
for contact details.
Every bit helps. Thanks so much for allowing me to post this here.

[Ed]

Zimbabweans should fight instead of fleeing what cowards. No one will help them the world has their own problems to deal with

[Musavengana]

What goes around comes around Mr shiri thought he was immune to the CIO