The BBC and CNN will be able to report freely from Zimbabwe for the first time in eight years after restrictions were lifted by the country’s government.
Zimbabwe’s minister of media, information and publicity, Webster Shamu, claimed that the BBC had never banned from “carrying out lawful activities” inside the country, but added that the BBC and his government had now “acknowledged the need to put behind us the mutually ruinous relationship of the past”.
The thawing in relations with the BBC and CNN comes after Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party lost its majority in parliament for the first time in 28 years in last year’s elections.
After months of political turmoil, Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Tsvangirai became prime minister, while Mugabe is president.
