Mugabe snubs regional summit

Zimbabwe's opposition yesterday called a general strike after officials said President Robert Mugabe would snub a regional summit called to discuss rising fears of bloodshed over delayed election results.

As tension increased over the election deadlock, police accused the opposition Movement for Democratic Change of "spoiling for a fight" and of deploying 350 youth wing members around the southern African country.

The police banned a Sunday rally by the MDC, which called an indefinite general strike starting next Tuesday to push for results from the March 29 election to be released.

State radio said Zimbabwe would be represented by three ministers at the Saturday summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which was expected to pressure Mr Mugabe to release the results. Human rights organisations and the MDC say Mr Mugabe has unleashed a campaign of systematic violence in response to his ruling Zanu-PF party's first electoral defeat, when it lost control of parliament in the March 29 election.

The MDC says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won a parallel presidential vote, whose results have not been announced, and have called on Mr Mugabe to end his 28-year rule.

Mr Tsvangirai told South African national radio from Botswana: "The situation in Zimbabwe is dire. The... military has a rollout plan and is already embarking on intimidation, violence against the people."

Mr Tsvangirai said he would be a "prime target".

The MDC accuses Robert Mugabe of delaying the result so that he can intimidate opposition supporters before a runoff vote against Mr Tsvangirai.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the strike "starts Tuesday and goes on until the results are out".

Robert Mugabe's decision not to attend the summit was a direct snub to Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the SADC chairman.

Mr Mwanawasa last year described Zimbabwe as a "sinking Titanic" before getting back in line behind the body's relatively soft approach to Mr Mugabe, who is still seen as a liberation-era hero to many Africans.

The absence of Robert Mugabe, 84, from the summit is likely to reduce the chances of any action by SADC, already seen as largely toothless in the face of the Zimbabwe crisis and overawed by the Zimbabwean leader.