Militants disrupt human rights meeting

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Rights groups say militants violently disrupted a hearing by a parliamentary panel receiving submissions on human rights for possible inclusion in Zimbabwe's new constitution.

Witnesses and rights activists said a crowd of up to 200 militants besieged the parliament in downtown Harare on Saturday and some burst into the building and shouted down participants. One lawmaker and two journalists were assaulted and the hearing was abandoned.

The Zimbabwe lawyers for Human Rights group said police intervened to escort lawmakers from the parliament.

A similar hearing in the southern town of Masvingo was abandoned on Thursday after unrest blamed on militants of President Robert Mugabe's party widely accused of rights violations.

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