Mohadi summons Tsvangirai over violence claims

Mohadi summons Tsvangirai over violence claims

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ZIMBABWE'S home affairs minister summoned opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to explain claims of escalating violence against opposition supporters, a state newspaper reported Sunday.

Home Affairs Minister Comrade Kembo Mohadi summoned Tsvangirai to a meeting on Thursday "where the opposition party will be given the opportunity to substantiate claims that some of its members have been killed or maimed in incidents of political violence," The Sunday Mail said.

The newspaper said there were reports that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was planning to pull out of talks with President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party "and is trying to cite the purported violence cases as a pretext for the withdrawal."

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said he was unanaware of the letter to Tsvangirai. "I am not aware of any such letter," Chamisa told AFP. "It has not been delivered to us."

The opposition party told journalists last week that they "have witnessed an increase in cases of violence and intimidations particularly in rural areas and also in urban areas."

Chamisa said the violence threatened an initiative by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to broker the talks between Zanu PF and the MDC.

The MDC said it was demanding more than 130 million US dollars in damages for party officials and activists arrested and tortured while in custody.

The claim followed the dropping of charges, two weeks ago, against the last of 33 opposition activists detained on terrorism charges in March.

An SADC meeting in March tasked South African President Thabo Mbeki with brokering dialogue between Zanu PF and the MDC. The two parties have held a series of meetings with South African officials. - AFP
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