Arab television network Al Jazeera International has become the first international news channel in more than three years to be allowed to set up a permanent base in Zimbabwe after President Robert Mugabe’s government chased away mostly Western television and radio broadcasters such as the BBC.

Al Jazeera International, a subsidiary of the Qatar-based Arabic television channel Al Jazeera, has opened a two-man bureau in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, the ZimOnline internet site reported.

The two journalists hired by al-Jazeera, Cyrus Nhara and Farai Sevenzo, are said to have already started work. Nhara is a cameraman and producer who has done work for Reuters television in Harare. Sevenzo is a news reporter who has done work for Britain’s Channel 4.