Nigeria Content Online

Zimbabwe’s attorney
general plans to set up a commission to investigate possible treason
charges against locals over briefings with U.S. diplomats that are part
of confidential State Department cables released by WikiLeaks.

The investigation
appears to be targeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and follows
state media reports that hawks in President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party wanted an official probe against Tsvangirai over his briefings
with the U.S. ambassador in Harare.

In comments that
appear in one U.S. state department cable obtained by WikiLeaks,
Tsvangirai appears to suggest that his Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) was not genuine in calling for the lifting of Western sanctions
against ZANU-PF.

Attorney General
Johannes Tomana said on Saturday he would appoint a team of five lawyers
to establish whether reports in the WikiLeaks amounted to any breach of
the constitution.

“The WikiLeaks
appear to show a treasonous collusion between local Zimbabweans and the
aggressive international world, particularly the United States,” Tomana
said in a statement.

“With immediate
effect, I am going to instruct a team of practising lawyers to look into
the issues that arise from the WikiLeaks.”

The U.S. Treasury
Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Tomana, saying his actions
undermined the country’s democratic institutions.

Tomana said the sanctions were an attack on the office of the Attorney General and the constitution of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai has
refused to be drawn into the WikiLeaks spat. His aides say he is not
guilty and describe the controversy as personal attacks on the prime
minister.

Mugabe’s ZANU-PF last week said the government should craft a law that makes it a treason offence to call for sanctions.

Tsvangirai’s MDC has
said the government should investigate charges arising from WikiLeaks
documents that senior officials close to Mugabe, including his wife
Grace, have benefited from illicit diamond trading from the Chiadzwa
mine in the eastern part of the country.

The WikiLeaks
reports have added to tensions in Zimbabwe’s inclusive goverment formed
last year by Mugabe and Tsvangirai, with ZANU-PF charging that the U.S.
cables have vindicated its claim that the MDC is working with the West
to oust Mugabe.

WikiLeaks has
released several U.S. cables on Zimbabwe, including one on a senior
Tsvangirai ally seeking Washington’s support to establish a fund to
buy-off the country’s security service chief who are loyal to Mugabe and
ZANU-PF.

Another cable showed former United Nations secretary general Kofi
Annan offered Mugabe a deal to step down and live in a safe haven, which
the the 86-year-old leader rejected.