Zimbabwe police free Tsvangirai
Opposition leader is released without charge after eight hours of detention.
‘Rallying supporters’
Speaking earlier from the police station in southwestern Zimbabwe where the group were being held, Job Sibanda, a party lawyer, said Tsvangirai had been accused of rallying supporters.
“They are accusing him of addressing a rally at St Paul‘s [near Lupane] without authorisation,” Sibanda said.
Nelson Chamisa, chief MDC spokesman, said deputy party leader Thokozani Khupe and MDC chairman Lovemore Moyo were also held with Tsvangirai.
“It’s the whole entourage of the president, including his security personnel and other senior party officials,” he said.
News of Tsvangirai’s detention brought swift condemnation from the US state department with a spokesman calling it a “deeply disturbing development”.
George Sibotshiwe, Tsvangirai’s spokesman, said the group were held at the police station in Lupane, north of the city of Bulawayo.
Looking ahead to a post-election transition, Tsvangirai said his government will reform the civil service, judiciary and security forces, but he pledged not to purge pro-Mugabe officials.
Charities banned
Zimbabwe has ordered aid groups Save the Children UK, CARE International and ADRA to stop work in the country immediately, the director of a national NGO association said on Wednesday.
The government has sent letters to the groups issuing the orders, Cephas Zinhumwe, chief executive of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), said.
Zinhumwe said he had met with the three organisations he named as being sent the letters.
NANGO had earlier issued a statement saying several unnamed organisations had been ordered to cease operations over accusations that they campaigned for the opposition ahead of an upcoming presidential run-off election.
The association said it was “deeply disturbed by the fact that several NGOs, including those in the humanitarian sector, have been banned from delivering humanitarian assistance and other crucial services they are registered to deliver.”