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US: Mugabe must end violence
11/04/2008 22:04 - (SA)
Harare - The United States on Friday urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to stop "violence and intimidation" against those wanting to express their political rights.
"We would call upon the Mugabe government to cease using the tactic of violence and intimidation against those citizens who only want to exercise peacefully their political rights," State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack told reporters.
This comes after Mugabe tightened his grip on power by banning all political rallies in the capital as state media reported he was boycotting a weekend summit on the post-election crisis.
The opposition, whom police said had been organising a rally on Sunday, called on Zimbabweans to launch a general strike on Tuesday and to remain off work until the result of last week's presidential election was made public.
Mugabe, under pressure since the March 29 election which the opposition insists it won, will be represented at the summit in Zambia by four ministers, state radio reported.
The 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) called the summit in a bid to mediate with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai has confirmed he will be in Lusaka.
'Mugabe must stand down'
Tsvangirai called on Mugabe to quit and appealed to the summit participants to ensure democracy prevails in Zimbabwe by intervening to put an end to the crisis.
He said: "He should recognise that he has lost and let me get on with making our great country great once more.
"This is an historic moment for SADC and a defining moment for Africa. We can show the world that we, Africa, can solve our own problems and safeguard democracy and the rule of law."
Southern African leaders have been heavily criticised over their traditional reluctance to criticise Mugabe, who has presided over his country's economic demise during his 28-year rule.
Not only is the ruling party contesting enough seats in the simultaneous parliamentary elections to overturn a slim opposition majority, it has also demanded a total recount of the presidential vote.
"We call upon transporters, workers, vendors and everyone to stay at home," said MDC pamphlets being handed out in the capital. "The power is in our hands. Zimbabweans have been taken for granted for too long. We demand that the presidential election results be announced now."
Run-off
Amid mounting calls from international powers for the release of the election results, Mugabe's Zanu-PF has said there will be a run-off.
The opposition has ruled out Tsvangirai's participation in any second-round vote, accusing Mugabe of launching a campaign of intimidation that would affect the true democratic result, even describing it as tantamount to coup.
Mugabe's Information Minister Bright Matonga shot down the opposition claims.
"There was no violence before the election, during the election or after the election so we can't talk about even a military junta or anything," he told SABC radio.
In another sign that the authorities were clamping down, the MDC said lawyer Innocent Chagonda had been arrested simply for demanding the release of a helicopter hired by Tsvangirai for his presidential campaign.
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