Zimbabwe Update:Police Attack Opposition

By Shashank Bengali | McClatchy Newspapers

NAIROBI, Kenya — Police under the control of President Robert Mugabe raided the headquarters of Zimbabwe's political opposition Monday, one day after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from this week's runoff election against Mugabe, opposition leaders said.

Heavily armed police arrested dozens of party members at the headquarters in the capital of Harare, said Fortune Gwaze, policy coordinator for Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change. Those arrested were party activists from rural areas who were using the offices as refuge after weeks of politically motivated violence that have left more than 85 opposition supporters dead, Gwaze said.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported that Tsvangirai sought shelter in the Dutch embassy in Harare shortly after the police raid. It quoted a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman who said that the charismatic former trade union official "feared for his safety but had not requested asylum."

Earlier Monday, Tsvangirai — who said it was impossible to hold a free election given the mounting violence against his supporters — said he was open to discussing a political settlement with Mugabe, who's ruled the southern African nation for 28 years.

"We are prepared to negotiate with ZANU-PF," Tsvangirai told a South African radio station, referring to Mugabe's ruling party, "but of course it is important that certain principles are accepted before the negotiations take place. One of the preconditions is that this violence against the people must be stopped."

But Mugabe — who vowed repeatedly during the campaign never to cede power to his opponents — appeared determined to claim victory in Friday's one-man runoff despite a growing chorus of criticism from U.S., African and European leaders.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who mediated a political settlement to Kenya's bloody post-election crisis in February, called on the U.N. Security Council and the African Union to find a solution.

"Any run-off or announcement of a winner under these circumstances will neither be credible nor acceptable to Zimbabweans, Africa and the international community," Annan said in a statement. "The victor emerging from such a flawed process will have no legitimacy to govern Zimbabwe."