Armed police raided a house belonging to Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party in a new threat to the country's faltering unity government, a top official said yesterday.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary-general Tendai Biti told a news conference police officers claiming they were searching for weapons ransacked the property used for the temporary accommodation of party officials.
"Last night armed police numbering over 50 raided this residence on the pretext that they were looking for arms stolen from the police or the army," Biti said.
The raid came just over a week after the MDC suspended contact with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF over a battery of issues they said should be ironed out for their unity government to work.
Yesterday's edition of the state-owned Herald newspaper said Mugabe vowed not to give in to the MDC's demands.
"The matters the people are complaining about in the MDC-T are that we should now, voluntarily you see, give away aspects of our authority," Mugabe was quoted as saying.
"We will not do that. They can go to any summit, any part of the world to appeal. That will not happen."
The raid came as Tsvangirai was rounding off a tour to persuade regional leaders to intervene in the stand-off.
Biti said the police descended on the property in the western suburb of Highlands and "ransacked every room and took a bunch of valuable party material from a room occupied by our organising secretary Morgan Komichi.
"They beat up the wife and sister of the caretaker before they started digging part of the garden ostensibly in search of weapons.
"The decision we took last week and the efforts we are making in government to protect public funds all have to do with these acts of
**frustration."
Party leaders such as Tsvangirai's deputy Thokozani Khupe, chairman Lovemore Ncube and youth leader Thamsanqa Ncube used to occupy the house until they were given official state residences, Biti said.
Biti said the raid was the work of members of ZANU-PF and security forces opposed to the country's power-sharing government.
There were fears the police may have "planted" weapons during the raid, he added.