Jun 4, 2008 6:30 am US/Pacific
Zimbabwe's Opposition Leader Detained
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) ―
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Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai (right) and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. (File)
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Police have detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after his convoy was stopped at a roadblock, an opposition party official said Wednesday.
Tsvangirai and a group of about 14 party officials were being detained at a police station in Lupane, north of Bulawayo, spokesman George Sibotshiwe said.
No charges have been put to them, he said. Comment from police was not immediately available.
Tsvangirai had been campaigning in the area ahead of a presidential runoff on June 27 against President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai claims he won the first round outright, and that official results released May 2 showing a runoff was necessary were fraudulent.
Tsvangirai, who left Zimbabwe after the March 29 presidential election, delayed his return late last month after his party said he was the target of a military assassination plot.
The former union leader has survived at least three assassination attempts. In 1997, unidentified assailants who tried to throw him from a 10th floor window.
Last year, he was hospitalized after a brutal assault by police at a prayer rally, and images seen around the world of his bruised and swollen face have come to symbolize the plight of dissenters in Zimbabwe.
Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said Tsvangirai had planned on spending the week campaigning in Western Matabeleland. At least two of Tsvangirai's rallies since his return on May 24 have been banned on security grounds by police who said they could not guarantee the leader's safety.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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