Cablegate: Transmission of Letter of Condolence From H.E.

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

220544Z Sep 05

UNCLAS HARARE 001312

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPDC CASC PHUM US ZI
SUBJECT: TRANSMISSION OF LETTER OF CONDOLENCE FROM H.E.
PRESIDENT R.G. MUGABE TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

1. (U) Embassy Harare is in receipt of a dip note from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe
forwarding a condolence message from H.E. President R.G.
Mugabe to President George W. Bush and the bereaved families
affected by Hurricane Katrina. Embassy will forward the note
and condolence message by pouch to the Department.

2. (U) (BEGIN TEXT)
Your Excellency,
It was with profound shock that we learnt of the havoc caused
by Hurricane Katrina, the destructive storm which swept
through the Gulf Coast states of your country recently,
resulting in a sad loss of human life and extensive damage to
property.

On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of
Zimbabwe and on my own behalf, I wish to convey our deep
sympathy and sincere condolences to you, Your Excellency, and
through you, to the bereaved families and to the Government
and people of the United States of America, in this very
difficult hour.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest
consideration.

Yours sincerely,
R.G. Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe
(END TEXT)

3. (U) Comment: Mugabe's condolences ring disingenuous.
Speaking in the General Debate at the United Nations General
Assembly on September 17, Mugabe accused the U.S. of
hyprocritically condemning him for demolishing urban slums
while neglecting our own homeless black victims of the
hurricane. Playing the well-practiced race card before the
Assembly he said, "a whole community of mainly non-whites was
deliberately abandoned to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina as
sacrificial lambs."

4. (U) Comment cont'd: The devastation caused by Hurricane
Katrina has struck a chord with Zimbabweans. Despite
Mugabe's rhetoric, many messages in the independent press
focus on the suffering of US citizens and commend the USG for
its disaster relief efforts. Some commentators have gone so
far as to use USG efforts as a point of comparison to turn
the criticism back on Mugabe's Operation Restore Order. For
example, Ralph Black, Director of Communications for the
Association of Zimbabweans Based Abroad, writing for SW Radio
Africa on September 19, commented that the USG had responded
with compassion to the suffering and had engaged the military
in saving lives, while the Zimbabwean military had been
involved in the destruction of dwellings and businesses. To
add insult to injury, he commented, the Zimbabwean government
was actively preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching
the affected. End comment.
DELL

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