• Tools:
• Save |
• Print |
• E-mail |
• Most Popular |

Mugabe's main rival hospitalized

Adjust font size:

(CNN) -- Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai remained in the hospital Wednesday after he and two other opposition leaders were beaten and detained.

A court hearing into Tsvangirai's arrest was delayed Wednesday morning when prosecutors failed to show up in court, according to his attorney, Otto Saki, adding that Tsvangirai was freed from police custody late Tuesday.

Video of Tsvangirai showed him arriving at a courthouse Tuesday with a deep gash to his head and walking with a cane.

He was awaiting results of a brain scan to determine the extent of his head injury, The Associated Press cited his lawyers as saying.

The attorney general's office said it was not aware of any charges against the opposition leader.

U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell has met with Tsvangirai, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

The United States was looking into additional sanctions, Reuters quoted State Department spokesman Tom Casey as saying. The State Department also urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to address the issue and Assistant Secretary of State Barry Lowenkron would seek international pressure on Zimbabwe during talks with the African Union in Addis Ababa Thursday, Reuters reported.

Tsvangirai, fellow Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Arthur Mutambara and National Constitutional Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuk were beaten and detained when government forces broke up their prayer meeting in a Harare suburb Sunday. (Details)

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded their "immediate and unconditional release," calling President Robert Mugabe's regime "ruthless and repressive."

In a statement on Wednesday, Mugabe's government suggested Tsvangirai and his MDC colleagues had been assaulted for resisting arrest and for launching a violent drive to oust it from power, Reuters reported. (Full story)

One person died after police unleashed tear gas and fired on the crowds, a rally organizer said.

Tsvangirai, who founded the MDC, lost his bid to unseat Mugabe in 2002. There were widespread allegations that Mugabe, who holds a tight grip on power, rigged votes. Mugabe has been the country's only ruler since it achieved independence 27 years ago and recently announced plans to run for re-election next year.

Under Mugabe's rule, the once prosperous country has suffered a crippling economic crisis with regular shortages of food, electricity and foreign currency.

Inflation is estimated to be more than 1,700 percent.

While there is no official figure, unemployment among Zimbabweans is believed to be at 80 percent.

Opposition leaders, including the MDC, have called on the international community to help end the economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe.

Nearly 3 million exiled Zimbabweans -- more than 20 percent of the country's population -- live in neighboring South Africa, forced to leave their country because of what they call the repressive regime of Mugabe.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.

---

• McCain, Obama deadlocked
• Ike forces evacuations in Cuba
• Three guilty in airline bomb plot
• O.J. Simpson arrives for trial
• Particle smasher to start up

• Irish PM to quit over payments scandal
• NATO chief: Afghan troop increase likely
• Militants hunted as calm retuns to Basra
• Pressure on Bush to skip Olympics
• BA sending misplaced T5 baggage to Milan

• Recruiting suicide bombers (2:50)
• London was lucky (2:36)
• Cars in London rigged as bombs (3:48)
• Second explosives-packed car foun (2:32)
• Soviet culture returns (3:47)