Zimbabwe police free opposition leader Tsvangirai
Thursday, 05 Jun 2008 09:51
Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, released without charge after being arrested at roadblock
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of
Zimbabwe's opposition, has been released without charge after being detained by police yesterday afternoon.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader spent eight hours in the cells following his arrest at a roadblock en route to a rally west of Harare.
After being freed Mr Tsvangirai condemned the actions of police and president Robert Mugabe's intelligence officials but played down the significance of the incident.
"It is nothing but the usual harassment which is totally unnecessary," he said.
"We have seen worse things than this."
Last March the opposition leader was badly beaten after being taken into custody when he tried to attend a banned political rally.
Mr Tsvangirai and his party's vice president, national chairman, as well as their bodyguards, were arrested at a roadblock yesterday lunchtime.
US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was troubled by the arrests.
"He should be released immediately, unharmed, untouched," he told reporters.
The incident came as Mr Mugabe was in Rome to attend a global food price summit.
Mr Tsvangirai claims he won the March 29th presidential elections outright to oust Mr Mugabe from power.
But the country's electoral commission ruled neither man gained a 50 per cent share of the vote, with a run-off due to be held on June 27th.