Police detain Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe

June 4, 2008

According to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in Zimbabwe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been detained by police after they stopped his convoy.

The MDC convoy transporting Tsvangirai was stopped by a roadblock at 10:00 UTC north of Bulawayo. Tsvangiarai and his people have been taken to a police station in Lupane, according to MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.

George Sibotshiwe, a spokesperson for Tsvangirai, said, "We are currently held up. They are saying there's a commanding officer whom we should wait for. They are not saying why they are holding us up. It's not an arrest but illegal detention. It appears they want to disrupt our campaign program."

Yesterday, while campaigning in Bulawayo, Tsvangirai said, "Mugabe is determined to turn the whole country into a war zone in order to subvert the will of the people and steal the June 27th election by any means possible."