Pro-Mugabe supporters lay siege to parliament

Up to 200 apparently pro-Mugabe militants besieged Zimbabwe's parliament building in central Harare yesterday, assaulting journalists and lawmakers who were attending a parliamentary human rights panel.

Members of parliament were receiving advice on human rights legislation for the country's new constitution when the attack began; the same panel was abandoned when militants began shouting down participants and assaulting some of those attending. A number of MPs were able to leave parliament only under a police escort. A similar hearing on Thursday in the southern town of Msyingo was also violently disrupted by pro-Mugabe militants.