Zim 'resembles a war-zone'
2008-04-21 08:51
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Zimbabwe resembles a war-zone, with thousands of people displaced, hundreds injured and 10 killed by post-election violence, an opposition leader said as he appealed for international intervention.
Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change, said violence since March 29 elections had forced 3 000 families out of their homes. Hundreds of people had been taken to hospital with injuries and 10 people killed, he said.
Biti said United Nations organizations present in Zimbabwe must be mobilised as the situation had escalated from a political crisis to a humanitarian one.
"They should move as a matter of urgency. They should move because Zimbabwe is a war zone," he told a news conference on Sunday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tsvangirai 'faces' immediate arrest
He said key members of the opposition's administration had been arrested, along with more than 400 supporters.
He said: "We are not able to function because of those arrests." Biti and MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai said they could not return to Zimbabwe as they faced immediate arrest.
President Robert Mugabe's government had accused Tsvangirai of treason and plotting a regime change with former colonial power, Britain.
Tsvangirai was widely believed to have beaten President Robert Mugabe in the elections, but the results still had not been announced after three weeks.
Electoral officials on Saturday began recounting ballots for a couple of dozen legislative seats being challenged - an exercise that could overturn the opposition's majority win.
Most of the seats being recounted were declared for opposition candidates, including in Mugabe's home district of Zvimba. Biti said the recount was rigged and the ruling Zanu-PF had tampered with tally sheets and ballot boxes.
Mugabe 'is desperate'
He said: "They created fresh ballot papers. It is quite clear the dictatorship will do everything ... to try to reverse the people's victory."
State-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp said the full recount would take up to three days. The opposition said this was yet another ploy to delay the publication of the presidential results.
Tsvangirai claimed he won more than 50% of the vote, but independent observers said it was unlikely he received an absolute majority. Biti said Mugabe was desperate.
"He can delay... but he will go," Biti said. "He hasn't stolen this election. We are still fighting."
The opposition released a detailed list of its supporters who had been injured and killed since the elections. Many had their homes destroyed by ruling party thugs and youth militias, it said.
It said a feared government minister, Didymus Mutasa, and army chiefs were involved in instigating the violence and training militias.
It was impossible to verify the opposition claims, although a statement issued on Sunday gave a detailed breakdown of some of the casualties and destruction of supporters' homes.
- AP