ANOTHER ZIMBABWE PASSPORT SEIZED !

Mugabe party endorses crackdown.
By Justin Pearce BBC News, South Africa.

Delegates backed President Robert Mugabe's latest moves. Zimbabwe's ruling party has held its annual conference, backing government moves to clamp down on critics. The resolutions were yet more bad news for the country's political opposition, civil rights groups and other critics. The Zanu-PF meeting called for action against civic groups and NGOs it said were sponsored by Western countries. It urged the government to implement a constitutional amendment allowing the authorities to confiscate the passports of those who it sees as a threat.

In fact officials began putting that law into practice just a few days ago. On Thursday newspaper owner Trevor Ncube had his passport seized after he arrived at Bulawayo Airport on a flight from South Africa. Mr Ncube's newspapers, both in Zimbabwe and in South Africa, have been critical of President Mugabe's government. For several years he has been based in South Africa and travelled regularly to Zimbabwe. Now he will not be able to leave his home country.

Then on Friday an official of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Paul Themba Nyathi, also had his passport confiscated as he too returned from a trip to South Africa. Mr Themba Nyathi was reportedly told by officials that his name was on a list of 64 people whose passports were to be seized.

Opposition and civil rights activists in Zimbabwe have been fearing for some months now that a clampdown is on the way. Events of the last few days suggest that the government has now embarked on a programme of tougher action against its opponents.

BBC NEWS REPORT.