Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

My uncle, Austin Daly, who lives in South Africa, sent me a report of friends of his, William and Annette Rogers, who on 7 May were terrorised in their home in Zimbabwe during the hours of darkness. They were tortured by 15 thugs who wanted to make sure they left the farm. This is not a one-off incident. Robert Mugabe himself has been quoted as saying: "We are no longer going to ask for the land but we are going to take it without negotiating." This policy of forcing people to leave their land, whether they be white farmers, which they mostly are, or others, has turned Zimbabwe from the bread basket of Africa into an economic basket case.

This is an example of how Robert Mugabe has changed one form of terror government, that of the white government he replaced, into his own form of terror government where he has terrorised not only the white farmers he so hates but also anyone who opposes him. Any man who says he would like to be associated with Adolf Hitler is a person one would wish was not in power in any country. When he was compared to Hitler, Mugabe is quoted as saying:

This Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold.

This is the man that we wish would leave Zimbabwe and let democracy rule in that country but, as the Minister is aware, the key is South Africa. However, South Africa's policy of quiet diplomacy is not quite working. While President Mbeki has been gently urged by the international community to do more, he fails to do so. The more he fails to recognise that quiet diplomacy is not going to work, the longer the situation will continue.

Ireland's role as a non-colonial power has been recognised by Senator Feargal Quinn and we must do more. There is not a lot we can do, but through the good offices of our ambassador in South Africa, we can place pressure on the South Africans, who are the king-makers in the situation, to ensure Robert Mugabe leaves office.