Zimbabwe’s government accused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason, saying he and Britain are plotting to overthrow the president. Tsvangirai denounced the allegations as “outrageous.”
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government lashed out at Tsvangirai by claiming he is plotting an “illegal regime change” — with former colonizer Britain’s help — in accusations published in Zimbabwe’s state-run newspaper.
The paper cited a letter from Britain’s prime minister, which the opposition says is a forgery.
The British embassy also denied it, saying: “No such letter or wider correspondence exists.”
The accusation comes amid a government campaign of arrests, assaults and other intimidation designed to suppress political dissent following a March 29 vote that Mugabe is widely believed to have lost.
Results from the presidential vote have not been released some three weeks after the ballot.
Independent tallies suggest Tsvangirai won, but not with enough votes to avoid a runoff. The electoral commission says it cannot yet release results of the presidential vote because it is still verifying ballots and investigating anomalies.
The opposition says Tsvangirai won outright and accused Mugabe of engineering a delay to secure his 28-year grip on power.
On Thursday, Tsvangirai — in an interview given in Johannesburg, South Africa — dismissed the government’s allegations as “outrageous.”
He said that his Movement for Democratic Change party was formed with a commitment to “democratic change” in Zimbabwe, not a forceful overthrow of the Mugabe regime.
Mugabe charged on Thursday that Britain was plotting to re-colonize the nation.
He spoke at his first major public appearance since the elections, before thousands of children gathered to celebrate on the eve of the country’s independence anniversary.
“We should not let these children down by dropping our guard against imperialism. British imperialism, which is surreptitiously and clandestinely weaving its way, fighting its way into our society, trying to divide it ... to re-impose neocolonialist rule,” Mugabe said.
He vowed: “But as long as we are alive, and as long as I am still able to breathe ... that shall never be. Never again shall this country be a British colony.”
On Thursday, the opposition leader hardened his stance on Mugabe, saying that Zimbabwe’s president may be forced to face justice for alleged human rights abuses perpetrated during his years in power.
Since the vote, riot police and security forces have deployed across the country in a show of force. Rights groups have recorded scores of attacks and beatings on opposition supporters.
Tsvangirai’s party has failed in attempts to force the release of presidential results through the courts and through appeals to regional leaders.
Legislative results released shortly after the vote handed control of the parliament to the opposition for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history.
But a re-count is planned for tomorrow for 23 constituencies — nearly all won by the opposition — and if just a few of those wins are overturned, the ruling party could regain control of parliament.
Meanwhile, international calls strengthened for Zimbabwe to show it is adhering to democratic principles.
“We’re trying to convince all the partners and all the neighbors of Zimbabwe that the publication of results is the bare minimum. Election results must be published — it’s a must,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
At the UN, the US and Britain on Wednesday backed a suggestion from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send UN observers to monitor any presidential runoff.
But the Herald quoted Zimbabwe’s UN Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku as saying that “for the UN to come ... it should first be invited.”
Zimbabwe refused to allow Western observers to monitor last month’s elections, inviting only “friendly” countries including a Southern African Development Community team led by a junior minister from Angola — which has not had elections since 1992.
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