Tsvangirai ally arrested after calling Mugabe 'a liar'

The party of Zimbabwe’s prime minister says police arrested a senior minister on unspecified charges after he called President Robert Mugabe a liar.

Hard-liners in Mugabe’s party accused Jameson Timba of insulting Mugabe, an offense under sweeping security laws, when he said Mugabe lied over the outcome of a recent regional summit on Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.

Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said he had no information on possible charges.

Timba, minister of state in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office, was being held late on Friday at the main Harare police station, said party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.

He attended the summit and contradicted Mugabe’s account that leaders withdrew a damning report on the slow pace of reforms and continuing political violence blamed on Mugabe’s party.—Sapa-AP