Answering a Bishop's Prayers

"I had been expecting a miracle," said Bishop Abel Muzorewa, 59, one of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe's sternest critics. After ten months of confinement at a detention center, the diminutive bishop had his prayers answered last week when, at the recommendation of a review tribunal, Mugabe agreed to his release. Muzorewa, who is head of the Zimbabwe branch of the U.S.-based United Methodist Church, leader of the United African National Council and a Member of Parliament, was Prime Minister of the country for six months before independence in April 1980.

The bishop was jailed by Mugabe for "subversive activities" after returning from a visit to Israel and declaring that oppression in Zimbabwe was greater than it had been under white minority rule. The strongly anti-Zionist Mugabe promptly accused Muzorewa of trying to overthrow the government. The bishop is now free to resume political activities and is expected to campaign in next year's general election. But he has been warned of a condition to his freedom: no more mixing politics with religion.