Zimbabwe TV says MDC supporters shoot ZANU-PF members
HARARE, May 31 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's state-owned television said on Saturday two ruling ZANU-PF party members had been shot dead by suspected opposition supporters in a rural district that has been gripped by political violence.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) denied any involvement in the shooting.
The MDC says more than 50 people have been killed in election-related attacks since March, blaming elements within ZANU-PF for the bloodshed. President Robert Mugabe says MDC supporters are responsible.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) said two ruling party members were shot dead on Friday in rural Mutoko district, one of ZANU-PF's strongholds about 140 km (85 miles) east of Harare that has witnessed several cases of political violence in the aftermath of March 29 general elections.
"Suspected MDC supporters shot and killed two ZANU-PF women's league members in Mutoko ... raising fears that they could have been targeted as the MDC intensifies its campaign to intimidate ruling party supporters," ZBC said, adding police had confirmed the shooting and were investigating.
There was no immediate comment from the police.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa rejected the charges saying "that is a lie". "Where will our people get guns. That is utter rubbish," he told Reuters.
Chamisa said police in Hwange and Victoria Falls town in western Zimbabwe had earlier stopped MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai from addressing his first rallies since his return from South Africa last week.
The MDC leader is trying to galvanise support across party lines as he prepares to face Mugabe in a June 27 presidential run-off election. Tsvangirai won a first presidential poll in March but fell short of the margin needed for outright victory.
The opposition and rights groups have accused Mugabe and his officials of trying to intimidate opponents ahead of the vote. They also fear that his government will rig the results of the poll, as it is accused of doing in past elections.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai say they are confident of victory.
"I spoke to him (Tsvangirai) and he told me he was prevented from holding the rallies. The police told him that they were instructed that rallies would be held after the runoff," Chamisa said. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
