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'Welcome Back': A Reporter's Fraught Re-Entry to Zimbabwe

Associated Press

   HARARE, ZIMABABWE - The immigration officer lifted his stamp to put the
   visa into my passport and I heaved a sigh of relief. But then my
   passport was taken by a smiling woman who asked, "Have you been to
   Zimbabwe before?"
   Through questioning she determined that I had worked as a journalist in
   the country from 1980 to 2003.
   "Was your departure from Zimbabwe voluntary or involuntary?" she asked.
   I answered truthfully: It was involuntary as I had been expelled by the
   government.
   "Please come with me to answer a few questions," she said, leading me
   to a small room.
   I knew that room well, as I had been detained there 16 years ago. That
   was after I was dragged from a news conference, slapped by a police
   officer, put in a car with a hood over my head and held in the airport
   basement for several hours.

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