Post-election violence in Zimbabwe
continued unabated Sunday as the country headed for a presidential run-off,
with more than 50 opposition members arrested in the past days for allegedly
burning property at a farm belong to the country's top cop.
Police in Mashonaland Central province confirmed the arrests of 56 members of
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for rioting and destroying property at
a farm in Shamva - about 100 kilometres north- east of Harare.
The MDC lawyer and officials are saying the alleged crime occurred at a farm
belonging to police chief Augustine Chihuri.
"We have arrested 56 MDC supporters for violence and arson in Shamva. They
will appear in court soon," said a police official in Bindura - the
Mashonaland Central province capital, under which Shamva falls.
Alec Muchadehama, the MDC lawyer said the arrests lasted from Tuesday to Friday
and the suspects are still in custody.
"We were told that the magistrate for the area is on leave so a relief
will come either on Tuesday or Thursday next week," said Muchadehama.
Zimbabwe has been plagued by violence since the March 29 poll in which MDC's
Morgan Tsvangirai trounced President Robert Mugabe. The MDC claims that it has
lost at least 30 supporters to violence by government-backed militias and
soldiers.
Tsvangirai has been out of the country for about five weeks now and is expected
to return in the next few days ahead of a presidential run-off, the date of
which has yet to be announced.
The state-run weekly, The Sunday Mail quotes the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) chairman George Chiweshe as ruling out the run-off in 21 days as required
by the law and as demanded by the MDC on Saturday.
"It is likely that will extend the period. We want to make it clear that
we intend to hold the election at the earliest possible date," the paper
quotes Chiweshe. The paper said there were 'necessary logistics' that includes
funds that needed to be available for the election to be held.
Meanwhile, the state-run weekly, The Sunday Mail, reports that London and Washington are persuading former Mozambique president Joachim Chissano and former UN
secretary general Kofi Annan to entice Mugabe to accept a government of
national unity with Tsvangirai.
The paper quotes unnamed diplomatic sources as saying the two most powerful
nations had first sought to ask former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda to take
up the mediation role, dpa reported.
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