Zimbabwe police raid puts fragile coalition at risk

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By Chengetai Zvauya ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARARE, Zimbabwe | Police loyal to President Robert Mugabe raided a house used by the prime minister's supporters Saturday and accused them of hoarding weapons in a move that is likely to push Zimbabwe's fragile coalition government closer to collapse.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the police raid on a house where the party's executives stay was a provocation by Mr. Mugabe's backers who wants the coalition to fail.

Mr. Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing government with Mr. Tsvangirai, the country's longtime opposition leader, in February after disputed elections last year. Mr. Tsvangirai withdrew temporarily from the coalition government on Oct. 16.

Mr. Mugabe, 85, has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980.

Finance Minister and MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti said about 50 armed police "ransacked" a house used by party executives in Harare on Friday night. He said a guard, Moffat Nyandure, and his wife were assaulted, and police forced Mr. Nyandure to dig with bare hands for five hours in the yard around the house in search of weapons.

A room occupied by a party official, who was at the house at the time of the raid, was searched and "valuable party documents" were taken, Mr. Biti said. The house is used by MDC executives who visit from outside of the capital.

Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena had no immediate comment.

"They are behind this attack," Mr. Biti said, referring to Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party. "Our decision of pulling out of the inclusive government infuriated ZANU-PF, and this is the price we now pay for that decision."

Mr. Tsvangirai's boycott has been a setback for the country's struggle to emerge from political gridlock, economic collapse, and international isolation and sanctions.

Mr. Tsvangirai has condemned unilateral moves by Mr. Mugabe to fill government posts, continuing human rights violations and attacks on activists by ZANU-PF militants and security forces.

The catalyst for Mr. Tsvangirai's withdrawal was the prosecution of Roy Bennett, a popular party member nominated as deputy agriculture minister. Prosecutors unsuccessfully tried to send Mr. Bennett back to jail to await trial on charges linked to discredited allegations that he had plotted the violent overthrow of Mr. Mugabe.

Mr. Tsvangirai is looking to regional leaders to help resolve the stalemate. This week, he met with the leaders of neighboring countries and a team of southern African ministers will also visit the country on Thursday.

In his first comments on the issue Friday, Mr. Mugabe called the split a "non-event" and said his party would not change its course.

"No amount of pressure will make ZANU-PF yield to any one of their demands," he told state television on his return from a summit of African leaders in Uganda. "What the MDC wants is to have complete executive authority, and that we cannot allow," he said.