Tsvangirai to 'pull out of election'

Sources in Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change said their leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will pull out of this week's presidential run-off election against President Robert Mugabe.

The party sources said this is because of the mounting violence and intimidation against the opposition during the campaign.

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The sources said they were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to make the announcement.

They said Mr Tsvangirai plans to make the announcement during a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, this afternoon.

Party sources said that Mr Tsvangirai would make the official announcement following a party national executive committee meeting.

Mr Tsvangirai had hoped to address his main campaign rally today ahead of the run-off against 84-year-old Mr Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980.

But thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the site. They set up roadblocks to prevent opposition supporters from reaching the venue, ripped branches from trees and hurled stones at cars.

Hundreds of militants, many with sticks and wearing ZANU-PF ruling party colours, marched past its headquarters chanting slogans. Eight ZANU-PF trucks crammed with passengers circled the grounds.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claimed the militants were beating opposition supporters who were trying to reach the venue and said at least two were seriously injured.

It said the militants attacked journalists and forced African election monitors near the rally site to flee. Election monitors could not immediately be reached for comment and there was no independent confirmation of the opposition claims.

Campaigning for the March 29 vote was generally peaceful, but the run-off has been overshadowed by violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.

Mr Tsvangirai won the first round election but not by an absolute majority. Mr Mugabe has shrugged off mounting international condemnation, even from normally friendly African countries.

Advertisements for today's opposition rally spoke of "celebrating our victory". They said, "No one can take it away. Now is the time to celebrate a new Zimbabwe."

Mr Tsvangirai's attempts to tour the country have been stymied by police at road blocks, and the state-controlled media have banned opposition advertisements, claiming they "contain inappropriate language and information". The media cited one ad which claimed that Mr Tsvangirai won the election, "which is not the case, hence the run-off".

Tendai Biti, the opposition party's number two, was arrested within minutes of his return from South Africa last week and is being held on treason charges.

"It is evident that the Mugabe regime has disregarded regional and continental opinion that has been calling for an end to disruption of MDC election campaign programs, state sanctioned brutality, violence and harassment of the people of Zimbabwe," the opposition said in a statement.

"The observers on the ground surely ought to be seeing this systematic state harassment of the MDC. The regime does not even want to pretend that the election will be free and fair," it said.

Zimbabwe has barred Western observers and most journalists, but the Southern African bloc hopes to send in about 400 monitors, and there are also some from the Pan-African Parliament.

At a rally in the western city of Bulawayo on Friday, Mr Mugabe said that the opposition was lying about the violence and said everywhere he visited was peaceful. His powerful police chief pinned the blame firmly on the opposition and said that police would clamp down.

Some analysts say a small inner circle of security chiefs has orchestrated the current violence as it is desperate to prevent an opposition victory and wants to keep Mr Mugabe in power to retain its privileges and protect it from possible prosecution.