Mugabe forces seek amnesty in violence

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HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 10 (UPI) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's top lieutenants, accused for decades of waging terror to stay in power, are now reported to be seeking amnesty.

The picture has changed and the opposition finally has a place in a new government.

Some senior Mugabe officials say they are concerned about being suddenly identifiable and vulnerable to prosecution because of last year's violence-scarred and highly publicized -- and still undecided -- election campaign, The New York Times reported Friday.

"Their faces were immediately pasted on the wall for everyone to see that they were behind the killing, the violence, the torture and intimidation," said one official in Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF.

To protect themselves, the Times reports, some of Mugabe's lieutenants are trying to implicate opposition officials in a supposed plot to overthrow the president, hoping to use it as leverage in any amnesty talks.

There also is concern among the Mugabe ranks that their 85-year-old leader may not be around much longer to shield them, party officials said.