Iran to fund Zimbabwe radio station
aljazeera

FRIDAY, APRIL 06, 2007

Zimbabwe is to set up a new radio station to counter what it
perceives as propaganda from outside countries against Robert Mugabe, the
country's president.

Zimbabwe's information minister made the announcement after
talks on Friday with Rasoul Momeni, Iran's ambassador to Harare, in a deal
to refurbish public broadcasting studios in Bulawayo.

Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told the Ziana state news agency: "We are
under siege and being bombarded by the Western media broadcasting to our
people.

"There will be a revolutionary development in the media. We
should be able to tell our own story."

The short-wave station, the fifth to be run by the state, will
go on air before April 18 when the country commemorates its 27th
independence anniversary, according to the agency and the country's Daily
Herald newspaper.

Iran has already funded the upgrading of studios in the capital,
the new station will cost $39.6m.

In the face of growing criticism of his human-rights record,
Mugabe has in recent years increasingly turned to other countries, including
Iran, for help.