Mugabe's party says opposition plots overthrow

[December 15, 2008]  HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's ruling party renewed accusations Monday that its opponents are training in neighboring Botswana to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, heightening political tensions as the country faces a spreading cholera epidemic.

The opposition dismissed the allegations made in state media, saying the comments might be used as a pretext to crack down harder on dissent or declare an emergency.

Jeff Ramsay, a spokesman for Botswana's government, also dismissed the claim.

"Zimbabwe has persisted in making these allegations but has failed to produce anything we would recognize as `compelling evidence,'" Ramsay said.

Mugabe's party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, who was in Botswana on Monday, have yet to implement a unity government deal struck in September because of a dispute over how to share Cabinet posts.

Tendai Biti, Tsvangirai's chief negotiator, said the allegations followed reports that Mugabe's party was gathering alleged threats to national security to support a state of emergency declaration that would give Mugabe broad policing powers.

"If they want to declare a state of emergency, let them do it. Don't create fiction against the MDC," Biti said at a news conference.

Earlier Monday, Nelson Chamisa, Tsvangirai's spokesman, said it was "laughable and ridiculous that they made such a mischievous propaganda claim."

Chamisa added the opposition still hoped the political deadlock could be resolved, though he said no negotiations had been scheduled.

But Patrick Chinamasa, Mugabe's justice minister, was quoted Monday in the state-owned Herald newspaper as saying the opposition was not sincere and "is bent on foisting war on the country and the region."

Chinamasa said he had "compelling evidence" that members of Movement for Democratic Change were being trained in Botswana to fight. Botswana President Seretse Ian Khama has been one of the few African leaders to openly criticize Mugabe.

"My plea to Khama and his government is to think carefully about the irreversible harm they have been plotting to unleash on the region," Chinamasa said.

In addition to Zimbabwe's economic collapse, the country faces a growing hunger problem and cholera has spread rapidly.

Botswana has pledged aid to help Zimbabwe fight cholera. Ramsay said that was "guided by humanitarian considerations and is thus quite separate from the Harare authorities' continued leveling of baseless allegations against us."

According to U.N. figures, deaths from cholera in Zimbabwe since August are approaching 800, with more than 16,000 people sickened by the waterborne disease. Zimbabwe has been unable to afford spare parts and chemicals for systems to provide clean water, and its hospitals no longer have the staff or medicine to treat the sick.

Zimbabwe's decline began in 2000, when Mugabe began an often violent campaign to seize white-owned farms and give them to blacks. Most of the land ended up in the hands of his cronies, and farm production dropped sharply. The U.N. estimates half the population will need food aid by early next year.

Mugabe has ruled his country since its 1980 independence from Britain. He refused to leave office following disputed elections in March. Power sharing has been agreed to as a solution to the election dispute, with Tsvangirai as prime minister and Mugabe continuing as president.

[Associated Press; By ANGUS SHAW]

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