Zimbabwe's main opposition leader has been accused of plotting to assassinate the country’s president, Mr Robert Mugabe. Morgan Tsvangirai said he had been charged with treason after being questioned by police who claim to have video-taped evidence against him.
If found guilty he could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
The tape, broadcast on an Australian television channel, allegedly contains a recording of Mr Tsvangirai calling for Mr Mugabe’s assassination. An ex-Israeli intelligence officer, Mr Ben Manashe claims Mr. Tsvangirai approached him seeking to have Mr Mugabe ‘eliminated’.
Mr Tsvangirai says the accusations are an attempt to blacken his name in advance of next month’s presidential elections but he believes police will not proceed with any prosecution before the presidential elections. He is still expected to contest next month's elections.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has urged President Robert Mugabe's government not to tamper with the elections and to respect the outcome of next month's vote. Speaking in London, Annan said the situation was worrying. He said he believed that the people of Zimbabwe should be given a chance for a free and fair election and once they have voted, the voice of the people should be respected. Mugabe, who has led his country since independence from Britain in 1980, is facing the toughest challenge of his 22-year rule in the March 9-10 presidential election. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has accused him of intimidation and planning to rig the vote, criticisms echoed by the United States and the European Union, which have imposed personal sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle. The EU withdrew its election monitors last week. Annan said "It was unfortunate that the European Union monitors had to leave the country but I would appeal to the government of Zimbabwe not to interfere with the process and allow the people of that country to express themselves freely and willingly at the next elections"