Zimbabwe: Crisis over fuel hike deepens, President shelves Davos trip
Violence has escalated in Zimbabwe over hike in petrol prices from $1.24 a litre (£1.11) to $3.31. The new prices mean Zimbabwe now has the most expensive fuel in the world, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com
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$3.31 Fuel Price in Zimbabwe Sparks Protests
Rights groups say at least 12 people have been killed but this has not been officially confirmed.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has broken off a trip to Europe for world economic summit in Davos following violent protests in his home country.
Mnangagwa had been due to attend the Davos economic summit where he was expected to seek investment for Zimbabwe.
Ministers say the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is using sharp fuel price increases as a pretext for violence.
It emerged on Monday that South Africa had rejected a request from Zimbabwe for an emergency loan of $1.2bn (£932m) in December.
The government had hoped the cash would help stabilise the economy and resolve fuel shortages in the country.
Opposition leaders, Nelson Chamisa told the BBC that there was “no justification whatsoever of having soldiers with live ammunition, with guns, machine guns, AK47 on the streets, beating up citizens”.
“People are being approached in their homes, they are being taken out of their homes with their families even if they are sleeping… a lot of people have been arrested for no apparent reason,” he said.
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