Tsvangirai released by police in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was freed after several hours in police custody.

Nine others detained were charged in what the government alleged was a terror campaign, opposition officials said.

The detentions were part of a political crisis that has provoked concerns of a spillover in the rest of the region, and African leaders at an emergency meeting in Tanzania yesterday appointed South Africa’s president to mediate.

Before word had reached Washington that Thabo Mbeki would be mediating the crisis, the State Department said in a statement that international pressure was the best way to persuade Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to end his “misguided policies”. Spokesman Sean McCormack said the US was unwilling to offer suggestions as to what the leaders should do.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party accused Mr Mugabe’s government of trying to demonise its critics by fabricating allegations of an armed terror campaign.

The government has accused the movement of being behind a string of firebombs, and on Wednesday, police displayed explosives, detonators and two handguns they claimed were found at the home of two arrested opposition officials.

“These tactics are to try and divert attention from themselves,” said Tendai Biti, the party’s secretary-general. “We are dealing with a desperate regime.”

Party officials said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was released after several hours in custody to see a doctor because he was suffering from dizzy spells as a result of a police beating earlier this month.

Sixty others were arrested in Wednesday’s raid on the headquarters of the Movement of Democratic Change, and several were beaten, party officials said.

“They made us lie on our bellies and beat our bellies, buttocks and feet,” said opposition politician Felix Mashu, who was freed yesterday morning.

Police denied detaining Tsvangirai but said they had arrested 35 opposition activists in connection with a series of nine petrol bomb attacks this month.

Seven opposition members were charged with attempted murder in connection with the bombings, Alec Muchedehama, a lawyer for the opposition, told The Associated Press. Another was charged with illegal possession of a firearm, and another with possession of explosives without a licence.