Zambia
The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa Company from 1891 until takeover by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. A colonial legacy, mismanagement, debt and disease are said to have contributed to the country's difficulties, which have led to general disenchantment with the government. Industrial unrest in the Copper belt, associated with the mining privatization program and related job retrenchments, may spread to other sectors. Meanwhile, civil servants have engaged in large-scale protests to press for wage increases or to demand payment of back-wages.
Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties.
Former President Frederick Chiluba was swept to power in 1991 after helping mobilize popular discontent that forced Kenneth Kaunda to hold multiparty elections after being leader for 27 years. Chiluba was one of the founders of the current ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) whose campaign led to elections. His government brought about constitutional changes that made it impossible for Kaunda to stand again for the presidency. Political opponents accused him of failing to address poverty and AIDS. Chiluba expelled leadership rivals and banned internal party debate over his succession early in 2001, prompting suspicions that he wanted another term in office. After widespread protests and defections from the MMD, Chiluba decided in September 2001 not to run again, and backed prominent Lusaka lawyer and former vice-president Levy Mwanawasa as the MMD presidential candidate.
Mwanawasa narrowly won presidential elections in December 2001; opposition parties cried foul, alleging ballot-rigging. Though initially viewed by some as Chiluba's puppet, Mwanawasa was quick to remove Chiluba's former aides from the government. He focused on the fight against corruption, and approved investigations into alleged graft during his predecessor's era. He pressed for the former president's immunity from prosecution to be lifted. Mwanawasa won a second term in September 2006, having campaigned on his economic record. Mr Mwanawasa took 43% of the vote compared with the 29% of his main rival, Michael Sata, who alleged that he had been cheated of victory. Some unrest followed the vote.
There are currently no known threats specifically against expatriates or travelers to Zambia.
Demonstrations occur from time to time, and can draw harsh police response, especially when they are not authorized ahead of time. In the summer of 2005, fuel shortages were severe around the country, due to a breakdown at the country's only refinery. Protests resulted, causing localized skirmishes with police officers.
There have been some terrorism-related incidents in recent months. In March 2005, Lusaka authorities detained two Zambian men suspected of possessing a cache of what police suspected could be bomb-grade uranium. The two men were arrested by state intelligence officers at the Lusaka Stock Exchange on February 16, when Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa had been due to tour it.
In October 2005, a Briton in custody in Zambia in connection with the London bombings told investigators he was once a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Authorities were questioning Haroon Rashid Aswat about 20 phone calls he allegedly made to some of the men who carried out the bombings in London in July 2005. British police had said that the July attacks bore al-Qaida's hallmarks. Zambian officials said intelligence agents followed Aswat to Lusaka after he entered the country from Botswana and arrested him at a house in the capital. Officials said Aswat had been hiding in Johannesburg, South Africa. Aswat has been implicated in a 1999 plot to establish a terrorist training camp near Bly, Oregon. U.S. officials in southern Africa, citing an ongoing investigation, declined to comment on the reports and referred all questions about Aswat to the FBI headquarters in Washington.
