Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi strongly condemned Saturday’s assassination attempt against Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during a campaign rally in the city of Bulawayo, which injured a number of people.
In a statement released on Sunday, Qassemi wished complete recovery for those injured in the blast and expressed sympathy with their families, Tasnim News Agency reported.
He deplored use of violence to meet political goals and expressed the hope that Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections would be held in peace and security through unity and vigilance of its people.
Mnangagwa escaped injury in the explosion at a political rally on Saturday and vowed the “cowardly act” would not derail Zimbabwe’s first election since the ouster of former strongman Robert Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe loyalist installed after the army ousted his erstwhile patron, said the object had “exploded a few inches away from me, but it is not my time.”
The blast came as Zimbabwe prepared to hold its first post-Mugabe presidential election on July 30, with 75-year-old Mnangagwa and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the main contenders.
Authorities gave no details of what had caused the explosion at Mnangagwa’s first rally in Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold where the ruling ZANU-PF has not won national elections since 2000.
