Banana `fled death plot' in Zimbabwe

CANAAN BANANA, Zimbabwe's former president, has alleged that he jumped bail shortly before his conviction for sodomy last month because members of the Zimbabwean government planned to kill him.

In the latest twist in a bizarre saga, Mr Banana, convicted of 11 counts of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault, told the independent Zimbabwean Financial Gazette that he fled to South Africa last month because of plans to eliminate him. He said he had "dangerous information" which he wanted to share with his real friends.

It was unclear yesterday whether South Africa had handed Mr Banana to Zimbabwe under an extradition treaty between the two countries. Mr Banana may have returned home voluntarily. But yesterday he was under house arrest, until sentencing on 23 December.

His stay in South Africa and a decision by President Nelson Mandela to see him placed great strain on already tense political relations between the two countries.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Mr Mandela have been at loggerheads over Zimbabwe's decision to send troops into Congo in defence of President Laurent Kabila. But domestic attitudes to homosexuality also divide the two countries. In Zimbabwe, where homosexuality is banned, Mr Mugabe has described gays as "lower than pigs", whereas South Africa protects gay rights under its new constitution.

Not that Mr Banana, a Methodist minister, was looking for a gay support group to take up his case. He has always denied the charges against him, claiming they were trumped up by political enemies.

The charges proved against him carry a jail sentence of up to 22 years. However, there is speculation that he will receive a light sentence, or even a pardon, after Mr Mandela revealed that he and Mr Mugabe had reached a "common position" on Mr Banana.

During his 17-day trial one of Mr Banana's alleged victims described how the former president had danced with him before drugging him and raping him on a carpet in the State House library.