The police department of Zimbabwe will purchase scores of riot-busting vehicles from the "Beit Alfa Trailers" company of Kibbutz Beit Alfa, as part of its preparedness for presidential elections scheduled for April 2002. According to the newspaper Financial Gazette, the Interior Ministry of Zimbabwe asked the country's treasury to transfer $105 million to Beit Alfa as the first installment of the deal. "The vehicles will be equipped with riot-control equipment similar to that used by Israel in the territories, with water canons mounted on top," reported the newspaper. Senior officials of Zimbabwe's Police Department and Interior Ministry visited Israel to inspect the vehicles, which the Israeli Police Department has been using for the past 15 years, and preferred the Beit Alfa bid to others. The management of the Beit Alfa firm declined to comment.
I sincerely doubt the government of Zimbabwe, a nation of about 12 million people, is worried about a couple thousand white people rioting -- most have already left and those who remain are scared to death (or are actually being killed). It's a pretty safe bet they are more concerned about breaking up protests by the Mashona (about 9 million people) and Matabele (about 3 million people) protesting against Robert Mugabe's crooked election tactics and repressive government or in support of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is currently facing treason charges in that messed-up country.
Considering the number of people who are routinely shot, dismembered, disemboweled, burned or impaled to death in Zimbabwe these days, armored vehicles spraying cold water on a hot crowd is hardly a mortal threat.
Imal