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BBC Journalists banned from Zimbabwe
MISA-Zimbabwe
November 24, 2004

BBC journalists and several others working for British newspapers have been banned from covering England’s cricket tour of one-day internationals which begins in Harare on Friday.

According to an AFP report on 24 November 2004, the decision to deny 13 of the 36 visa requests from British media outlets was made on political grounds.

Journalists from The Times, Telegraph, Sun, Mirror, and their Sunday editions, also had their applications turned down by the government.

Under the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), all foreign journalists should apply for accreditation at least a month before their planned visit to Zimbabwe.

In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, George Charamba, the secretary for Information and Publicity in the President’s Office, reportedly said: "Bonafide media organisations in the UK have been cleared, but those that are political have not. This is a game of cricket not politics. Those that want to bowl us out of politics we will have to engage them at the political stadium … and its fixture will be in March next year."

Zimbabwe holds its parliamentary elections in March next year. The International Cricket Council says it is seeking urgent clarification from the Zimbabwean government on the grounds for the decision.

The five-match one-day series starts on Friday, with England traveling to Harare from Namibia on Wednesday.

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