Tsvangirai discharged from hospital

Tsvangirai discharged from hospital

TSVANGIRAI leaves the Avenues Clinic on a wheel chair Friday

• Mugabe tells West to 'go and hang'

• Doctors reveal injuries to oppisition activists

• Police stations bombed, MDC accused

• Zimbabwe warns Tsvangirai 'will pay a heavy price'

• Mutambara released, Tsvangirai still in hospital

• US, Britain and New Zealand condemn arrests

• Tsvangirai beaten up as fears grow for Biti, Mutambara

• Police shoot dead MDC supporter in Highfield

• Tsvangirai, Mutambara arrested in joint rally

• Mugabe bans rallies on birthday

• Morgan Tsvangirai: we must express ourselves through action

• David Coltart: a descent into lawlessness

• Mutambara: defying Mugabe, a call to action

• Morgan Tsvangirai: The time to act is now!

• Mutambara: setting the Zimbabwean agenda for 2007

By Nelson Banya

ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai left hospital on Friday, saying he was still in pain from an "orgy" of police beatings but determined to keep battling President Robert Mugabe's authoritarian government.

Tsvangirai, head of a faction of the splintered Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been treated for what his party said was a suspected skull fracture since Tuesday, two days after he and scores of supporters were arrested in an anti-Mugabe protest.

Images of a badly bruised and limping Tsvangirai entering the hospital earlier this week fueled international outrage and threats by the United States and other nations to tighten sanctions against Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials.

A Tsvangirai spokesman said on Friday that the MDC leader would now rest at home.

"He is still swollen and in pain, but he feels it's better to recuperate from home ... he is still not himself," William Bango said. An MDC spokesman said Tsvangirai was still suffering from dizziness.

Doctors have not confirmed a fracture.

In an article published in Britain's Independent newspaper on Friday, Tsvangirai said "democratic change" was in sight in Zimbabwe and vowed to press on with his battle to end Mugabe's 27-year rule.

"They (police) brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my spirit. I will soldier on until Zimbabwe is free," he wrote, saying he suffered an "orgy of heavy beatings" in custody.

"Democratic change in Zimbabwe is within sight."

Mugabe said on Thursday Western countries could "go hang" after a barrage of international criticism over charges Tsvangirai was assaulted while in police detention on Sunday.

The government has said Tsvangirai and his group resisted arrest and accused opposition supporters of waging a militia-style campaign of violence to topple Mugabe, a claim they dismiss. - Reuters

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