Anglican statement not meant to be pro-Mugabe, says bishop

http://churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=38082

[Church Times] 27 Apr 2007--Headlines in an Associated Press report proclaimed: “African Anglican Bishops support Mugabe”, and the pro-Mugabe Herald had “Anglican Bishops rap sanctions”. SW Radio Africa reported “Anglican Bishops blasted for supporting Mugabe”, and another AP report described the Anglican Church as “traditionally muted in its criticism of the government, with its leaders generally toeing the ruling party line”.

But Bishop Mwamba, who gave a keynote address to senior judges and others at the Ecclesiastical Law Society Conference in Liverpool earlier this year (News, 2 February), said on Tuesday that the letter had to be seen in the context of the Anglican situation in Zimbabwe. The spirit in which it had been sent was to support the progressive forces and the need for change, and was not in any way meant to be pro-Mugabe, he said.