Zimbabwe: More Beatings, More Abductions As the World Watches

Robert Mugabe's forces kept up their assault on the opposition yesterday as its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, sought refuge in the Dutch embassy, fearing for his safety after pulling out of Friday's presidential election because of escalating violence.

Armed police raided the Movement for Democratic Change's headquarters and hauled away scores of people sheltering from state-orchestrated killings, abductions and assaults.

The ruling Zanu-PF said the election would go ahead despite Tsvangirai's withdrawal, while Mugabe repeated threats to continue to pursue his opponents after the ballot. He warned that he would hold the MDC responsible for the violence, and said the government would pursue those it regarded as responsible for the country's economic collapse, including white businessmen.

"Sooner or later we are going to accuse the MDC leadership of being vicariously responsible for the violence," he said.

But Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the run-off presidential election, because he said he could not ask people to die voting for him, has intensified foreign condemnation of Mugabe.

Last night, the UN rebuked the Zimbabwean government and called for the election to be scrapped. In the organization's first direct involvement in the crisis, a draft Security Council resolution blamed the government for "a campaign of violence" that had "denied its political opponents the right to campaign freely".

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, warned Mugabe not to press ahead with the election, saying: "It will only deepen divisions within the country and produce a result that cannot be credible."

South Africa, which has so far blocked UN involvement in the crisis, had agreed to the draft resolution, a move described as significant by British diplomats.

Earlier, Gordon Brown told parliament that governments should not recognize an election rigged "by a criminal and discredited cabal". The US said that without a fair election a Mugabe victory on Friday cannot be regarded as legitimate.

The African Union said Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the race and the violence was a "matter of grave concern" although the organization fell short of attributing responsibility to Zanu-PF.

But the condemnations did little to curb the violence. Many of the people taken away from the MDC's headquarters by armed police in riot gear were women and children, the families of MDC activists and officials, such as councilors, who have been abducted or have gone into hiding.

The police said people were removed from the offices in Harare for "health reasons".

Violence proliferated in other parts of the country. The MDC said one of its members of parliament, Thamsanqa Mahlangu, was fighting for his life in hospital after being attacked by Zanu-PF forces on his way to a rally in Harare on Sunday. The rally, which was to have been addressed by Tsvangirai, was called off after thousands of armed ruling party supporters occupied the venue and attacked people.

Tsvangirai fled to the Dutch embassy within hours of withdrawing from the presidential race on Sunday. MDC sources said there was concern that the government would arrest him or target him for assassination.

Until Tsvangirai pulled out, he was afforded a degree of protection as a presidential candidate. Zanu-PF attacked or arrested many other senior MDC officials, including the party's secretary general, Tendai Biti, who is in jail on trumped-up treason charges based on forged documents. But Zanu-PF needed to allow Tsvangirai to remain free, even if it detained him for brief periods to scupper his political rallies, to maintain the illusion of a fair election.

In seeking protection, the Dutch embassy is one of the few in Harare that offers relative neutrality. Tsvangirai could not go to the British or US missions because it would be used by Zanu-PF to reinforce the claim that he is a tool of the imperialists. Diplomats said the South Africans and most African embassies would not want him; neither would the Chinese.

Zanu-PF said the presidential election would go ahead. The justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, described Tsvangirai's withdrawal as an attempt to "hoodwink" Mugabe's supporters. "Zanu-PF is not treating the threats seriously; it is a nullity. We are proceeding with our campaign to romp to victory on Friday," he said.

"Tsvangirai went into the election thinking that it was a sprint and was not prepared for a marathon and wants to avoid defeat. He spent his time globe-trotting and gallivanting in Europe and left MDC supporters without leadership.

"Zanu-PF exploited the opportunity and campaigned vigorously for victory and when he returned, he realized the tables had turned against him."

The Zimbabwe government continues to blame the MDC for the violence. "The MDC and its western masters are waging a war on us, and we have been forced to adopt a defensive position to safeguard our political independence and national sovereignty," Chinamasa said.

Tsvangirai told South African radio yesterday that he was still prepared to negotiate a political solution with the government but there must be peace first. He said: "We are prepared to negotiate with Zanu-PF, but of course it is important that certain principles must be accepted before the negotiation takes place. For instance, one of the preconditions is that the violence against the people must stop."

The MDC has said it is prepared to share power but that as Tsvangirai won the first round of elections, and the party forced Zanu-PF into opposition in parliament for the first time since independence in 1980, then Mugabe must relinquish office.

Mugabe's close ally, President Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, urged the Zimbabwean leader to end "all acts of intimidation and violence".

The Southern African Development Community election monitors are also privately saying that there is no way they will be able to endorse the election as legitimate, and they blame Mugabe. But it remains to be seen whether they will voice such criticism in public.