Zimbabwe military chief 'escapes attack'

The head of Zimbabwe’s air force survived an assassination attempt by gunmen who ambushed his car, state media there said today.

The reports followed accusations from the government that the opposition is training militants to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.

The opposition says such allegations are untrue, and could be a pretext for declaring a state of emergency that would give Mugabe broad policing powers.

The state-run newspaper The Herald said Air Marshal Perrance Shiri was wounded in the hand late on Saturday and was in a stable condition.