Zimbabwe police raid opposition offices

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s government raided the offices of the main opposition movement and rounded up foreign journalists tonight in an ominous indication that he may use intimidation and violence to keep his grip on power.

Police raided a hotel used by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and ransacked some of the rooms.

Riot police also surrounded another hotel housing foreign journalists, and took away several of them, according to a man who answered the phone there.

“Mugabe has started a crackdown,” Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti told The Associated Press. “It is quite clear he has unleashed a war.”

Mr Biti said the raid at the Meikles Hotel targeted “certain people... including myself”.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was “safe” but cancelled plans for a news conference, he said.

Mr Biti said tonight’s clampdown was a sign of worse to follow but that the opposition would not go into hiding.

“You can’t hide away from fascism. Zimbabwe is a small country. So we are not going into hiding. We are just going to have to be extra cautious,” he said.

Independent observers said their own projection based on results posted at a representative sample of polling stations showed that Mr Tsvangirai won the most votes in Saturday’s election, but not enough to avoid a run-off.

Mr Mugabe’s Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga, said Mr Mugabe was ready for a run-off, dashing hopes that he would bow quietly off the national stage he has dominated for 28 years.

“President Mugabe is going to fight. He is not going anywhere. He has not lost,” Mr Matonga told the BBC. “We are going to go hard and fight and get the majority required.”

Earlier today, Mr Mugabe was shown on state television meeting African Union election observers, his first public appearance since the elections.

A commission member indicated that presidential results would be announced tomorrow, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. But that was before the commission said that today’s expected announcement of senate results was delayed because of “logistical problems”.

The commission said it still was receiving ballot boxes from the provinces, raising questions about where those votes had been since Saturday’s elections amid charges of a plot to rig the results. Western election observers have accused Mr Mugabe of stealing previous elections.

Mr Mugabe has ruled since his guerrilla army helped force an end to white minority rule in then-Rhodesia and bring about an independent Zimbabwe in 1980.