'They're plotting to kill me'
2005-12-20 20:58
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed on Tuesday that President Robert Mugabe's ruling party plans to eliminate him and blame his death on infighting within his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Tsvangirai told diplomats that the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (anu-PF) party was plotting a "heinous crime blamed on intra-MDC conflict".
The MDC leader, citing "impeccable sources" claimed that he and other opposition leaders were "to be harmed and even physically eliminated".
Tsvangirai's party, which has posed the strongest challenge to Zanu-PF, was divided over whether or not to participate in last month's senate elections, which Mugabe's party won overwhelmingly.
Tsvangirai ordered a boycott of the poll, but others in his party accused him of being a dictator and later suspended him. The two factions now publicly bad-mouth each other.
Tsvangirai's claims dismissed
In his address to the diplomats, Tsvangirai accused the pro-senate faction of the MDC of being part of a ruling party plot against him and his supporters.
"Our erstwhile colleagues are not reading from an independent script," he charged. "Instead, they are Zanu-PF's fifth column inside the MDC."
However, the claim was immediately dismissed by Paul Themba Nyathi, the spokesperson for the rival MDC faction. "Where is the evidence?" Nyathi asked. "He does not have a snowball's chance in hell of producing any."
Nyathi accused Tsvangirai of making irresponsible statements that could only be believed by "gullible crowds at a rally". "One would expect more responsible behaviour" from Tsvangirai, he said.
At the weekend, Tsvangirai's faction suspended senior party members from the rival group, including vice-president Gibson Sibanda and secretary general Welshman Ncube. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA