HARARE Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s regime struck at his rivals recently, only two weeks before Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff, twice detaining his challenger and jailing the No. 2 opposition leader to face treason charges.
The U.S. ambassador, meanwhile, said 20 tons of American food aid heading to impoverished Zimbabwean children had been seized by authorities and given to Mugabe supporters at a rally. The repeated detentions, coupled with Western accusations that Mugabe’s regime is using food as a weapon, dramatically demonstrate the obstacles to the campaign thrown up by the longtime leader.
"This is a government that is taking tremendous and, frankly, awful strides to maintain its power, that is increasingly abusing its own citizens and has raised, or should I say lowered, the bar to a level that we rarely see," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said in Washington. In Washington, officials said the United States would try to raise the Zimbabwe issue next week.
Previous attempts to get the Security Council to make a statement on Zimbabwe have been thwarted by South Africa, an elected council member that regards Mugabe as a hero for his support of its struggle against white rule. The council is divided over what to do and whether to hold an open debate about it, said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, after the council was briefed on Zimbabwe Thursday.
With Mugabe’s consent, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is sending special envoy Haile Menkerios to Zimbabwe next week to discuss the political situation. "The Zimbabwean leadership, Mr. Mugabe and others, know at least where we, the United States, and several other members of the council are on this issue," Khalilzad said.
"If he does not cooperate with Mr. Menkerios and the current trends continue, we will have to deal with it. And we’ll deal with it as quickly as we can." Morgan Tsvangirai, who led the opening round of presidential voting two months ago and faces the increasingly autocratic Mugabe in a June 27 runoff, was first stopped at a roadblock in the south and held at a police station for about two hours, his party said.
The party said Tsvangirai went back to campaigning but was stopped later by another group of police, and it was not known if he was still being held. It was the third and fourth times in recent weeks that he was detained while running against Mugabe, who is increasingly unpopular for repressive ways and a wrecked economy. But the biggest blow was aimed at Tendai Biti, secretary-general of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, who was arrested at Harare airport upon returning from South Africa.
Police said he would be charged with treason, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the treason charge related to a "transition document" discussing changing Zimbabwe’s government. He said Biti also would be charged with making false statements "prejudicial to the state."
That charge refers to accusations that Biti announced election results before the official count was released. Under Zimbabwean law, only the electoral commission can announce results. Bvudzijena said Biti was in police custody but would not say where. He said Biti would be charged "as soon as we are through with our investigation" but would not be more specific. Biti’s detention robs the opposition of one of its most impassioned spokesmen.
He has led on-and-off talks with Mugabe’s party, and his arrest may signal Mugabe’s final rejection of the possibility of negotiating Zimbabwe out of its political and economic crisis. In a statement, Tsvangirai’s party called on police "to immediately reveal Mr. Biti’s location and release him unharmed immediately."
The party said it was "extremely concerned about the welfare of the secretary-general given the flagrant disregard for the rule of law and ongoing, state-sanctioned political violence and abductions currently prevalent in Zimbabwe."
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was appointed by Zimbabwe’s neighbors to mediate in the crisis but has been accused by critics of not doing enough, planned to discuss Biti’s arrest with Mugabe’s government, his spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga said. Mbeki intervened on behalf of Tsvangirai when the leader was detained for nine hours earlier this month. (AP)
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