Zimbabwe

MDC opposition official Tendai Biti freed on bail

Article published on the 2008-06-26 Latest update 2008-06-27 12:10 TU

MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti
(File photo: Reuters)

A Zimbabwe court has granted bail for opposition party MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti. Biti has been held in jail accused of vote rigging and subversion, and faces the death penalty of convicted. Biti was asked to pay one trillion Zimbabwe dollars for bail and ordered to surrender title deeds to his house. He is also to report to police once a week.

Opposition to Friday's presidential run-off vote in Zimbabwe is continuing around the world as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai gives President Mugabe 24 hours to enter negotiations. Kenya's Prime Minister Raile Odinga and US presidential hopeful Barack Obama have both called for action on the crisis in the southern African state.

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has called for the African Union (AU) to send peacekeepers to Zimbabwe and requested the postponement of the election.

Speaking in Nairobi, Odinga described the Zimbabwe crisis as first and foremost "an African problem" and said it should be resolved within the context of the AU. Meanwhile Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetang'ula called for tough sanctions on Zimbabwe.

In the United States, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama criticised African nations, saying they "have been quiet for far too long".

He said silence from African countries had "allowed Mugabe to engage in anti-colonial rhetoric that is used to distract from his own profound failures as a leader". He called on "other African nations, including South Africa to be much more forceful in condemning the extraordinary violence".

Queen Elizabeth II has approved the withdrawal of the knighthood that was bestowed on Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in 1994. Mugabe will be the first foreigner to have the honour withdrawn since the knighthood of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu was annulled in 1989.

Speaking in central Mashonaland yesterday Robert Mugabe told supporters Zimbabwe was no longer under colonial rule and was "now for the black people". 

The leader of the opposition MDC,Morgan Tsvangirai said there could be no negotiations if Mugabe went ahead with Friday's poll and declared himself victorious.