Tsvangirai flown to Botswana, MDC wants security review

BANDAGED: The Prime Minister leaves Harare's Avenues Clinic shortly before being flown to Botswana

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Posted to the web: 07/03/2009 21:27:12
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai left the hospital bandaged and mourning his wife Saturday after a car crash that his supporters blamed partly on insufficient security provided by President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai was flown to neighbouring Botswana "to recuperate and rest", source from his MDC party said on Saturday.

"I do not know when he will be back, he will undergo a check-up, but he is out of danger now," a spokesman for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said.

The MDC called for an investigation into the collision with a truck carrying U.S. aid, but cautioned against concluding that it was the latest assassination attempt against the longtime opposition leader.

Friday's crash nonetheless "could have been avoided" if Tsvangirai had the kind of motorcade that usually travels with Mugabe, said Tendai Biti, the country's new finance minister and MDC secretary general.

An MDC official who was traveling with Tsvangirai said the premier's Toyota Land Cruiser was accompanied by three vehicles with MDC security and one with state security agents, but not the kind of motorcade with dozens of cars and motorcycles that usually transports the President.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Tsvangirai was headed to a weekend rally in Buhera, his rural home, when the accident occurred near Beatrice, 25 miles (40 kilometers) out of the capital Harare.

State television said the truck swerved on an uneven and notoriously dangerous single-lane stretch of road.

Tsvangirai's spokesman said the car carrying the Prime Minister, his wife, driver and bodyguard had sideswiped the truck and rolled at least three times.

Susan Tsvangirai, 50, was pronounced dead soon after arrival at a clinic in Beatrice, said Ian Makone, a secretary in the Prime Minister's office and a member of his party.

The driver and bodyguard were also injured. Tsvangirai's brother, Casper, told reporters Saturday that the bodyguard had gone home and the driver remained hospitalised but not seriously injured.

DEATH TRUCK: The American-owned truck which caused the Prime Minister's Cruiser to crash, killing his wife on Friday, March 6, 2009

Mugabe sent the Prime Minister's family a message that called Susan Tsvangirai's death a "tragedy that has fallen on our nation at a time of great hope for our country," state radio reported.

The President also said the nation was praying that the Prime Minister's recovery "be swift and complete."

Biti said there should be a probe of the collision and a review of Tsvangirai's security.

"We cannot talk of foul play ... until it has been proved what has really transpired," Biti said. He did not say whether his party had requested a larger convoy for Tsvangirai at any time before the crash.

Police spokesman Superintendent Andrew Phiri said the truck may have struck an object on the road before it veered. The Herald said the driver and occupants of the truck were taken to a police station, but it was not clear whether they had been arrested.

A U.S. Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official spokesman was unavailable, said Saturday that the truck involved was transporting AIDS medicine donated by the U.S. government. It was driven by a Zimbabwean hired by the United States.

Tsvangirai left the Avenues Clinic on Saturday evening with a baseball cap pulled over his bandaged head. His spokesman, James Maridadi, said Tsvangirai was going home, where a steady stream of visitors were paying their respects. Some appeared to be preparing to spend the night on the lawn.

Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo, head of casualty at the hospital, said the Prime Minister had head injuries and chest pains and was expressing sorrow over his wife's death.

Makone said the couple's children were flying to Zimbabwe from Australia and South Africa and funeral arrangements were being made. - AP/Reuters
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