Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Monday threatened to arrest opposition leaders over mounting violence ahead of this month’s run-off, as he faced the most serious challenge to his 28-year rule.
”Sooner rather than later we are going to accuse the Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] and the party leadership of being liable and responsible for those crimes of violence,” he said.
Mugabe, addressing a rally in Kadoma, south of Harare, added: ”We are telling them we will arrest you in broad daylight.”
Of the violence, he said: ”There is now a pattern across the country that has to stop.”
The MDC immediately dismissed Mugabe’s threats.
”He knows very well we have nothing to do with the violence,” said MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
”He is the one who has gone about threatening to go back to war if he loses. So while he is accusing us of violence, he is responsible.”
The claims marked a further escalation in rhetoric ahead of the presidential run-off vote, with Mugabe warning over the weekend that he was ready to fight to prevent the opposition from coming to power.
While Mugabe blames the opposition for the upsurge in violence, the United Nations has said the president’s supporters are responsible for the bulk of it.
On Monday evening one of the UN’s top officials, Haile Menkerios, arrived in Zimbabwe to evaluate the political situation.
”I have come to see the situation, then I will report to him,” Menkerios said, referring to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Menkerios is the UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, responsible for Africa.
The opposition has said that the violence has so far claimed the lives of more than 60 of their supporters since the first round of the presidential election in March.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who faces Mugabe in the run-off, has claimed Zimbabwe is now run by what is essentially a ”military junta” that has unleashed a campaign of violence and intimidation throughout the country.
Besides the violence, the opposition has faced major obstacles in their campaign.
Police have detained Tsvangirai five times over the last couple weeks and two MDC campaign buses have been seized, though one has since been returned.
Interrogation
Earlier on Monday, police searched the home and computer of opposition number two Tendai Biti, who is facing a treason charge following his arrest last week minutes after returning home from a long stay in South Africa.
”Police searched his home and they spent the last three hours going through his laptop,” said Biti’s lawyer Lewis Uriri, who was present during the searches.
Officers took nothing away from the house in Harare and left the computer there, he said.
Police had refused to reveal his whereabouts until a court ordered authorities to produce him on Saturday.
He appeared in good health in court over the weekend, and Uriri was allowed to meet him and bring him food later in the day.
According to Uriri, authorities interrogated Biti continuously for 24 hours following his arrest.
Authorities have said they plan to charge him for having allegedly authored a document said to have contained details of a plot to rig the election.
He is also accused of ”communicating and publishing false information prejudicial to the state” for proclaiming victory for his party in Zimbabwe’s first-round March 29 polls ahead of official results.
The treason charge carries a potential death penalty.
Uriri said on Monday that police were planning a further accusation against Biti for allegedly seeking to cause disaffection within the armed forces.
The document he allegedly authored said all senior members of the army, police and intelligence services would have to resign and re-apply for their posts if the opposition came into power, or they would face being fired.
Uriri said he was also planning to ask the High Court to declare the further detention of Biti unlawful. Police are allowed to hold suspects for up to 48 hours, and Biti is already beyond that limit following his arrest on Thursday.
Mugabe’s regime has come under intense criticism from the West over what they have denounced as a crackdown ahead of the vote.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Mugabe’s regime ”desperate and criminal” and said he must not be allowed to ”steal” the election.
Backed by United States President George Bush, who said Mugabe did not want to have free and fair elections, Brown said the Zimbabwe leader’s recent behaviour was ”totally unacceptable”.
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. — AFP
