Redstate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Contra Tyrannum | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Think that having the opposition withdraw from the presidential run-off race will be enough to stop the political violence currently going on in Zimbabwe?

Well, think again:

Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwe opposition leader, was on Monday night sheltering in the Dutch embassy in Harare as security forces loyal to President Robert Mugabe detained dozens of opposition supporters.

The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change sought refuge after announcing on Sunday that he would not contest Friday's scheduled presidential run-off election, which he described as "a violent, illegal sham". Mr Tsvangirai had said staying in the race would cost more lives beyond the 86 supporters the MDC says have already been killed in state-sponsored attacks.

Any hope that his withdrawal would stem months of electoral violence and intimidation was dashed when, according to news reports from inside Zimbabwe, police raided the MDC headquarters in Harare and rounded up 60 activists.

The MDC said that Thamsanqa Mahlangu, one of its MPs for Bulawayo, was in intensive care after being attacked by militia loyal to Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party while en route to a Harare stadium on Sunday for a rally. This was eventually aborted when some 2,000 armed government supporters blockaded the venue.

The situation in Zimbabwe has to qualify as being the most depressing news item around. Bar none.