Zimbabwe police arrest another opposition lawmaker

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean police arrested another opposition lawmaker on Saturday, a day after Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai was detained for the second time this week ahead of a June 27 presidential vote.

The opposition MDC party accuses President Robert Mugabe of trying to sabotage Tsvangirai's campaign in order to preserve his 28-year hold on power.

Six MDC lawmakers have been arrested for various offences since the March 29 poll, in which Tsvangirai beat Mugabe but failed to win the majority needed to avoid a run-off.

Eric Matinenga was arrested on Saturday two days after charges of inciting violence were dropped, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

"Advocate Eric Matinenga, MP for Buhera West was arrested for the second time in an early morning raid by people claiming to be police," he said in a statement.

Police were not immediately available to comment.

On Thursday, a magistrate freed Matinenga, who was also arrested last week on allegations of inciting public violence in his constituency, saying he had been wrongly charged.

Chamisa accused Mugabe's government of stepping up a crackdown on the opposition ahead of the June 27 vote.

Mugabe, who lost the first round March 29 presidential election to Tsvangirai, also saw his ZANU-PF lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 28 years.

Police detained Tsvangirai twice this week as he campaigned in the rural southwestern province of Matebeleland. He was released on Friday a few hours after being stopped by armed police at a roadblock.

Critics accuse Mugabe's government of embarking on a violent campaign to intimidate voters as he faces an uphill task of reversing his electoral defeat.

Mugabe, however, blames the MDC party for violence and his government this week ordered all aid agencies to stop their humanitarian programs, saying they were interfering in the country's politics.

The Southern African Development Community, a regional grouping of 14 nations, including Zimbabwe, is sending observers to monitor the run-off.

(Reporting by Nelson Banya, Editing by Muchena Zigomo and Ibon Villelabeitia)