ZIMBABWE:ZIMBABWE'S MAIN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his entourage were detained yesterday by police while campaigning ahead of the country's June 27th presidential run-off, according to a party spokesman.
"He has been taken into a charge office in Lupane," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. "It's the whole entourage of the president, including his security personnel and other senior party officials."
The 56-year-old leader has continually been harassed by authorities since he returned from abroad 11 days ago to campaign for the second round, and has been banned from holding rallies in several towns in the western provinces of Matabeleland.
Mr Tsvangirai's detention yesterday came shortly after three international aid agencies revealed they had their local operations suspended by the government for alleged political activity.
The government sent letters to aid groups Save the Children UK, Care International and ADRA ordering them to cease activity, said Cephas Zinhumwe chief executive of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations.
US-based Care International denied any involvement in Zimbabwean politics and warned that the government's decision to sideline them would affect aid delivery to 500,000 people suffering from food shortages. Between December 2007 and last March the agency provided 920,000 people with food aid to supplement their diet.
"Care has strict policies against political involvement, and we categorically deny that the organisation has encouraged or tolerated any political activity," the aid agency said yesterday. The suspension of NGOs activities comes as analysts predict that this year's grain harvests will be 35 per cent lower than last year's, leaving a 1.5 million tonne shortfall if the annual demand is to be met.
Zimbabwe's social welfare minister Nicholas Goche said the aid agencies involved were trying to influence voters ahead of the run-off through food distribution.
"There is a crucial run-off coming and our information indicates that NGOs are involved in plans to undermine our candidate," he said.
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe faces Mr Tsvangirai in a second round after official results revealed neither candidate secured outright victory in the first poll on March 29th. Since then the MDC has claimed at least 54 of its supporters have been killed and 25,000 displaced in post election violence attributable to revenge attacks by ruling party militias.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has confirmed it is sending up to 400 observers to monitor the poll, double the number that oversaw the first round.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's state-controlled Herald has reported that 12 Zimbabweans were among the 62 people killed in the xenophobic violence that engulfed South Africa last month.