Members of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) said Monday they feared further violence by President Robert
Mugabe's government ahead of the presidential run- off.
"It is quite clear to us that Robert Mugabe is prepared to do literally
anything to secure victory," David Coltart, an MDC parliamentarian, told
Swedish radio news.
Coltart and other officials of his party attended a seminar Monday in the
Swedish parliament to discuss recent developments in Zimbabwe.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai faces Mugabe, 84, in a decisive run- off June 27.
Coltart said that during the last six weeks the Mugabe government had launched
a "massive country-wide campaign of torture and intimidation,"
claiming 43 MDC members had been murdered and others had been tortured.
"If election observers are deployed we may see a reduction in the level of
violence," he said, adding that if international observers are not
"quickly deployed" there was "no doubt that this violence will
continue and may even escalate."
In neighbouring Norway, aid organization CARE Norway said the recent decision
by Harare to stop Care International from distributing aid posed a threat to
the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the southern African nation.
"We can only hope that the history of Norway and other
Scandinavian countries as donors will lead to a softer response from
Zimbabwe," Marte Gerhardsen, secretary general of CARE Norway, told news
agency NTB, dpa
reported.
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