Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai says 50 killed in poll violence
HARARE (Reuters) - More than 50 people have been killed in political violence since Zimbabwe's disputed March 29 elections and 25,000 have fled their homes, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Tuesday.
Official figures showed Tsvangirai beat President Robert Mugabe in the election, but did not garner enough votes to avoid a second round poll, which has been set for June 27.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change accuses the ruling ZANU-PF party of launching a violent campaign against its supporters since the March elections to avoid another defeat next month. The ruling party denies the charge, and in turn blames the opposition for the violence.
"Over 50 Zimbabweans have been killed in the past six weeks. More than 25,000 people have been displaced. I've been saddened that Zimbabweans are willing to shed the blood of other Zimbabweans over political differences," Tsvangirai said.
"We are proceeding to compile the names of those who've committed these crimes. We will approach the attorney general to do something about it. I don't believe that anyone who has murdered someone should be forgiven," he told journalists.
Tsvangirai said he was launching a 150 trillion Zimbabwean dollar ($300,000) fund for victims of political violence, to be run by representatives from churches and rights groups.
The MDC, which ended the ruling party's long-standing majority in parliament in a parallel vote on March 29, says police have taken sides with ZANU-PF supporters when dealing with cases of political violence.
State television reported that newly-elected MDC MP Ian Kay appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of political violence, and was remanded in custody to June 11 after the state overturned his Z$20 billion bail.
In an apparent show of support for Mugabe on Tuesday, police chief Augustine Chihuri said the force had a duty to defend the country from what he called a threat from foreign powers and their local puppets.
FOREIGN STOOGE
Mugabe frequently accuses the MDC of being a stooge of former colonial power Britain and other Western governments he says want to oust him over his seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks.
"The nation is presently facing a myriad of challenges and machinations by external forces and their internal sympathizers, who I normally call puppets," Chihuri said.
"Its very existence and survival is threatened by these puppets and their handlers," he added, after conferring ranks on police officers in Harare.
On Tuesday the government said it would spend quadrillions of Zimbabwean dollars on social programs ahead of the June 27 election in what the MDC called vote buying.
Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said the government would offer tax relief, higher public service wages and food vouchers to ease pressure on Zimbabweans grappling with an economic meltdown under inflation of 165,000 percent. Continued...
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