Residents protest for church doctor to stay

HARARE (AP):

Officials of the Salvation Army in Zimbabwe said yesterday they have given a Canadian doctor 48 hours to leave the southern African nation after he was fired from a mission hospital.

Dr Paul Thistle's departure was moved forward from September 1, after villagers incited violence at the medical facility on Thursday to demand his reinstatement, said Vinece Chigariro, head of the church group in Zimbabwe. Thistle was the chief medical officer at the Howard hospital about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Harare. After 16 years at the mission, Thistle had clashed with church leaders over fund-raising for the hospital and local aid projects.

He said the order to leave was "not a legal decision" by Zimbabwean immigration or police authorities.

Twelve people were arrested after Thursday's unrest and eight nurses were held for questioning on allegations of incitement to violence.

"The nurses are people who treat and care for the victims of trauma and don't create it," Thistle said.

Chigariro said Thistle had challenged church leaders and he was being reassigned "for the good of the church". Ordained Salvation Army officers "sign a covenant with God and make an undertaking to be loyal to the church leadership," she said.

Thistle told The Associated Press yesterday that he will leave Zimbabwe after conferring with his Zimbabwean family members. He is married to a Zimbabwean nurse.