Tsvangirai Flies Into Harare

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai flew back home yesterday after a six-week self-imposed exile, telling reporters he felt 'quite safe'. He called off a return flight into Harare last week, saying he was the target of a military assassination plot.

Tsvangirai has been the target of at least three assassination attempts in the past but his absence from the country was beginning to raise criticism at a time when his supporters are enduring a campaign of politically motivated violence and intimidation by President Robert Mugabe's ruling party militias.

He went straight from Harare airport to visit some of the victims of the violence in the capital's main hospital. More than 40 people have been killed, hundreds injured and tens of thousands have fled their homes since the results of the 29 March presidential election were announced, giving Tsvangirai the majority of the vote, but not enough to prevent a run-off, now fixed for 27 June.

Tsvangirai has spent his time garnering support and funds from other African nations to fund his second run at unseating the increasingly despotic Mugabe.