Harare radio station bombed

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- An independent radio station in Harare has been targeted in a bomb attack.

No one was hurt in Thursday's attack on the "Voice of the People" station which is privately-run and funded by local and foreign donations.

Takura Zhangasha, of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, said two armed men confronted a guard on duty at the station shortly after midnight and told him to leave.

They then hurled an explosive device into the one-storey building.

Faith Ndebele, head of the station, refused to speculate on who carried out the bombing, but said it was an attack on free speech.

"For us this is an attack on free speech, and very sad for those who relied on our broadcasts for alternative views and opinions," she told reporters.

Zimbabwe has one state-owned national broadcasting corporation and critics say President Robert Mugabe's government is moving slowly in opening up the airwaves.

In the past two years, the offices and the printing press of Zimbabwe's only privately-owned daily newspaper -- The Daily News -- have also been wrecked in bomb attacks.

No-one has been arrested in connection with the incidents.

Earlier this year, Mugabe's government introduced new tough laws against the media which critics say are designed to curb press freedom and criticism of his rule.

But the government says the laws -- including those that penalise the publication of "falsehoods" by jail terms -- are meant to introduce ethical behaviour among journalists.