To: stomper who wrote (191559 ) 9/12/2002 8:21:58 AM From: oldirtybastard Respond to of 436258 Kofi Annan will go lick Mugabe's boots today and then whine about US foreign policyZimbabwe Police Raid Unicef Offices, Beat Workers, Seize Food 2002-09-12 06:55 (New York) Zimbabwe Police Raid Unicef Offices, Beat Workers, Seize Food Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Children's Fund said it complained to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan after Zimbabwean police forced their way into its offices, beat up two workers and confiscated food for its employees. Police said they were searching for firearms when they raided Unicef offices in the capital, Harare, and seized sugar, wheat and corn supplies, said Festo Kavishe, Unicef's country director in Zimbabwe. ``The matter has been brought to the attention of the UN secretary general and he will discuss it'' with President Robert Mugabe tomorrow in New York where they are attending the UN General Assembly, Kavise said. Unicef called the raid ``an unacceptable violation of our privileges and immunities'' in a letter to the foreign ministry. Unicef employs more than 1,000 people in the southern African nation. It is helping to feed more than six million Zimbabweans, about half the population, facing starvation because of drought and the government's seizure of white-owned commercial farms. Police have intensified raids, particularly on millers and bakers in the past few months, amid worsening food shortages. Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge apologized ``privately,'' describing the raid as ``deeply regrettable,'' said Kavise. Unicef expects a formal apology to be issued tomorrow, he said. --Brian Latham and Godfrey Mutizwa in Johannesburg on (+27 11) 286 1932 or gmutizwa@bloomberg.net Editor: Maier