Former Zimbabwean President Canaan Banana last week denied he had forced sex on male students, bodyguards and associates.

"The so-called allegations are a mortuary of pathological lies, a malicious vendetta of vilification and character assassination," he said.

Police have given prosecutors a docket of nine sodomy and homosexuality charges against Banana claiming he forced himself on male associates during his presidency (1980-1987) and at the University of Zimbabwe where he chairs the Religion Department.

Reports of the alleged activities came to light in February during the trial of one of Banana's ex-bodyguards, a policeman who murdered a fellow cop who had teased him by calling him "Banana's wife." The bodyguard claimed Banana raped him repeatedly during a three-year period while Banana was president.

Current Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has called homosexuals "repugnant to my human conscience ... immoral and repulsive." He has declared gay sex "an abomination" and "sub-animal behavior" and urged citizens to "hand [gays] over to the police. ... I don't believe they have any rights at all," he stated in 1995.

The new leader of Britain's Conservative Party, William Hague, approves of gay marriage.

"When they're not causing any harm to other people, why should we object?" Hague said.

A protégé of Margaret Thatcher, Hague, 36, succeeded former Prime Minister John Major. On most other issues, Hague is aligned with the party's right wing.

Meanwhile, The Sydney [Australia] Sun-Herald reported June 22 there are rumors Hague is gay.

But Hague says he's not.

"My friends know things like that are ridiculous," he said. "People have said I have been secretly married, secretly divorced, have children I've hidden. It's water off a duck's back."

Additional rumors say Rupert Murdoch's tabloid News of the World has photos that contradict Hague's denials and that he has obtained an injunction to prevent their publication.

6,000 MARCH IN WET EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Six thousand gays and lesbians marched through rainy Edinburgh June 21, according to the BBC.

The anti-gay Christian group There Is Hope declared that God had answered their prayers for a downpour to drench the pride parade.

The procession was lead by Edinburgh's Deputy Lord Provost, Margaret McGregor.

As the torrent continued, the post-parade festival at a city park turned into a mudbath and the main stage was abandoned in favor of the Women's Tent, said BBC Radio Five Live's Out This Week.

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Rex Wockner's Weekly International News dating back to mid-1994 is searchable at http://www.wockner.com

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