The leader of the main opposition party was detained by police who shot dead a protester as they broke up a “Save Zimbabwe” prayer meeting in the capital today.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party has intensified acts of post-election violence and intimidation against opposition supporters, according to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Zimbabwean police have arrested three men wanted in connection with the murder of two Britons whose bodies were found earlier this month in a well.

Two Britons were missing for over a month in Zimbabwe before their bodies were found in a well in an exclusive Harare suburb.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party accused police today of harassing its leader to hinder his political activities before crucial elections early next year.

The president and general-secretary of Zimbabwe’s largest trade union were arrested along with 51 supporters today as they marched through the capital Harare in protest at rising prices and high taxes.

Opposition officials in Zimbabwe vowed to continue a week of anti-government strikes and protests today despite a tough crackdown by President Robert Mugabe’s security services.

Zimbabwean authorities detained five foreign Lutheran church workers and a local journalist in a rural hotel today on suspicion that they violated the nation’s stringent security laws, the workers said.

One person has been killed in Zimbabwe in a firebomb attack on a ruling party office in the capital Harare, authorities said today.

Paramilitary riot police in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, fought running battles today with hundreds of university students protesting against the killing of one of their colleagues by soldiers.