HARARE, January 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The Zimbabwean government has
reasonable grounds to suspect the link of the country's Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) to anthrax mail as those who were
responsible for the making of the virus during the Ian Smith
regime are still working with the opposition party.
   Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick
Chinamasa told parliament on Wednesday that biological weapons
were created at the peak of the war of independence to eliminate
freedom fighters in the 1970s.
   He pointed out that "the people in the Ian Smith regime
responsible for creating the virus are still working with the MDC".
   He said his government had retained biological weapons soon
after the independence, alleging that it was using them in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo war.
   Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo also said on Tuesday that the
suspected anthrax attacks were part of terrorist activities
perpetrated by the MDC and its white founders who were bitter
about the land reform program.
   A letter suspected to be laced with anthrax was detected at the
Causeway Post Office last weekend and a team of experts was
dispatched to investigate the issue in which one worker was
hospitalized and several others treated for symptoms like itchy
skin and watery eyes.
   It was reported that the letter, which was posted from Kwekwe
in the Midlands, was addressed to a senior government official. 
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