President Robert Mugabe is trailing his main rival in popular support before elections due by next April, according to an opinion poll released on today.
The poll was published just days after the country's former Chief Justice Mr Anthony Gubbay accused President Mugabe of human rights abuses and disregarding the rule of law.
Mr Gubbay, who was forced to quit earlier this year by President Mugabe's government, said during a lecture in London earlier this week that President Mugabe's government had shown a blatant and contemptuous disrespect for the judiciary.
Today, Zimbabwe police arrested the editor-in-chief of the southern African country's only private daily newspaper as part of an inquiry into its shareholding structure.
Daily Newseditor-in-chief Mr Geoff Nyarota's lawyer said his client and a former director had been charged with fraud, and alternatively contravening an act that prohibits the supply of false information to a lawful authority.
The two were expected to appear in court on Friday, the lawyer added.
State media reported on Tuesday that the publishing company had lost its investment permit and might be forced to shut down, but the newspaper denied the report, saying it was part of a campaign to discredit it.
The poll, conducted by Target Research for Zimbabwe's independent Financial Gazettenewspaper, found that 52.9 per cent of Zimbabweans backed Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), while 47.1 percent supported President Mugabe.
The MDC, which won 57 of 120 contested seats in last year's parliamentary elections, has gained support countrywide, including in traditional rural power bases of President Mugabe's ruling ZANUPF party.
The agency said its researchers had braved physical and verbal intimidation by ZANU-PF supporters to poll 3,013 potential voters between August 17th and September 28th.
The agency said 11 per cent of respondents indicated they had been intimidated ahead of the 2000 parliamentary elections. While 65 per cent of these said this had not affected their voting, 11 per cent switched their support and 14 per cent chose not to vote.