Tsvangirai 'fighting for life'
2007-03-12 19:13
Special Report
Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai says there has been progress in talks between the country's two political parties.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says he doesn't expect the US sanctions on his country to be lifted soon.
Harare - Zimbabwe's chief opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been left fighting for his life after being brutally beaten in police custody, said his second-in-command, said his deputy on Monday.
Thokozani Khupe, deputy head of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said: "As of now, president Tsvangirai is battling for his life at Borrowdale police station after he was brutally assaulted."
Khupe, who has not herself seen Tsvangarai since his arrest on Sunday, said the MDC leader lost consciousness three times while at Machipisa police station, close to the site of a planned rally which was crushed by the security forces.
Tsvangirai's lawyer Innocent Chagonda, who visited his client in custody earlier in the day, refused to discuss his condition when contacted for comment on the allegations.
- SAPA