Tsvangirai arrested as police storm HQ
Updated on 28 March 2007
The Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been arrested after police stormed his party's headquarters.
Witnesses said armed riot police surrounded and then entered the building in downtown Harare where the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leadership had been due to hold a news conference.
"President Morgan Tsvangirai, who was scheduled to give a
press conference on the escalating and systemic campaign of
violence and intimidation undertaken by the Mugabe government in recent days, was among those taken away," the party said in a statement.
The MDC secretary general, Tendai Biti, said all of the MDC
officials inside the building were arrested, but it was unclear
whether they had been transferred into police custody.
"Their phones are all turned off so we don't know if they are still there or at the central police station," he said.
The raid came as Mr Mugabe was due to arrive in Tanzania for a
special regional summit to address the escalating political and
economic crisis in Zimbabwe.
The summit comes more than two weeks after dozens of
opposition members, including Mr Tsvangirai, were arrested and
reportedly beaten after an aborted rally against Mr Mugabe and his
authoritarian government.
The crackdown drew sharp international protests and renewed
calls for African nations to tackle Mr Mugabe's 27-year rule over
Zimbabwe, which now faces its worst economic crisis in decades
along with escalating political tensions.
