Zimbabweans to protest NKorean soccer team visit

Apr 29, 2010 - 4:59 PM HARARE, Zimbabwe(AP) -- An opposition group in Zimbabwe is vowing to demonstrate against North Korean soccer players who plan to train in the southern African nation ahead of the World Cup.

The Zimbabwe African People's Union party said Thursday some in Zimbabwe's western Matabeleland province have not forgiven North Korea for training troops who crushed an armed rebellion in the 1980s.

Tens of thousands of civilians in western Zimbabwe died during the five-year Matabeleland uprising.

Zimbabwe's tourism minister has said the North Korean soccer team plans to train at a stadium in Harare next month ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

The team initially was to train in Matabeleland province, but the tourism minister denies the change of venue was politically motivated.