Security Fears StopTsvangirai Return

By Vusumuzi Sifile and Caiphas Chimhete

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday cancelled his return home after claims by his party it had uncovered a plot to assassinate him.

Tsvangirai was to have arrived yesterday afternoon and address a star rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo today.

But his spokesperson, George Sibotshiwe, told Reuters yesterday of the assassination plot:
"We have received information from a credible source concerning a planned assassination attempt against President Tsvangirai. We are not in a position to say whether this threat concerns the actions of the State or a non-state actor.

"In light of this information, and on the strong recommendation of Mr Tsvangirai’s security advisor, it has been decided that the President will not return to Zimbabwe today."
He could not give details on the alleged assassination plot.

But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in Harare yesterday Tsvangirai was "behaving like a spoilt child by making such stupid claims".

"If there are plans to assassinate him, why didn’t he tell you who is involved?" said Chinamasa. "He must stop planning his own assassination. He is spreading falsehoods, for what purpose, we do not know."

Chinamasa, the Zanu PF elections spokesperson, would not say whether Tsvangirai’s safety would be guaranteed if he returned home.

"I am not Tsvangirai’s keeper. I have nothing to do with his movements. He thinks he is very important in the affairs of this country. He only does what the British tell him to do. One day he said he was not taking part in the election, and then changed (his mind) to say he is taking part.
"One day he says he is not returning to Zimbabwe, and now says he wants to come back."
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku said although he was not yet aware of the assassination plot, it was "very important for Tsvangirai to be around, whatever the risks".

"I strongly feel he should be around. That is what a political struggle is all about. In politics, there will always be all sorts of risks and assassination threats, and as a leader he has to take the risk and be with the people in the struggle," Madhuku said.

Sources in the MDC said Tsvangirai wanted to "extract guarantees" President Robert Mugabe would abide by the electoral conditions the opposition party is demanding before he returns.
The sources said Tsvangirai was delaying his return in a bid to push Sadc and the international community to put pressure on Mugabe to agree to conditions before the run-off to ensure a level electoral playing field.

"It all has to do with the conditions which the party presented to Sadc. There is no feedback yet," said one source.

The MDC leader has said he would only participate in the run-off if Mugabe stopped the violence; dismantled torture camps and reconstituted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), now widely viewed as an extension of Zanu PF.

Tsvangirai is demanding the polling be observed by the African Union (AU), Sadc and United Nations.

The MDC conditions were presented to South African President Thabo Mbeki, the mediator in the country’s political crisis. Last week, Mbeki met Mugabe and told the 84-year-old leader to stop politically-motivated violence, which has reportedly claimed more than 30 lives, mostly of MDC supporters.

The postponement of the MDC leader’s return comes at a time when cases of political violence allegedly spearheaded by Zanu PF militias and war veterans are on the increase.
Last Friday Tsvangirai, then in Northern Ireland at the 55th Congress of Liberal International, said he would return home for the run-off next month, for the first time since 8 April.
Tsvangirai told BBC in Belfast: "I must return to Zimbabwe to be with our people and to lift them out of the darkness."

He denied he was in exile and urged Mugabe to peacefully accept the verdict of the second round vote.

"I did not run away. I am not in exile. It was for strategic reasons. We had to engage with all the African leaders about the crisis."

MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said all political rallies across the country, including the star rally scheduled for White City today would proceed.

On Friday, the High Court quashed a police ban on the White City rally.

The police had banned the rally citing what they said was a tense political environment in Bulawayo that made it too risky to hold public political meetings in the city.
The delay of Tsvangirai’s return came a day after Mugabe told a Zanu PF Central Committee meeting to gear itself for the presidential run-off on 27 June.

MDC officials said Tsvangirai’s fears had been worsened by his beating on 11 March 2007, and his treason trial which ended in 2004.

A few weeks before the 2002 Presidential election, Tsvangirai was accused, but later acquitted, of plotting to murder Mugabe with the assistance of a Canadian, Ari Ben-Menashe.
The State case was based on Tsvangirai’s use of the term "elimination", which prosecutors said meant he would defeat Mugabe in the election and remove him from government.