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Police to arrest opposition leader in Zimbabwe

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October 9, 2000 

HARARE (AP) - Police plan to arrest Zimbabwe's main opposition leader on treason charges when he returns from a trip abroad on Monday, a state-controlled newspaper reported Sunday.

Police awaiting the return of Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai have been stationed at the main Harare airport since Friday, the Sunday Mail reported.

The newspaper said MDC Secretary-General Welshman Ncube also could face arrest for suggesting Tsvangirai's detention could trigger a civil uprising.

The Sunday Mail, seen as a mouthpiece of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, quoted unidentified police and government officials saying Tsvangirai will face treason charges for "inciting public violence" and bringing Mugabe's name to disrepute for comments he made at a Sept. 30 rally.

Treason carries a possible death sentence.

At the rally in Harare celebrating the MDC's first anniversary, Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of destroying the economy.

Tsvangirai traveled to Europe and South Africa on party business the next day and was scheduled to return Monday.

In South Africa, Tsvangirai has described his remarks as undiplomatic but not illegal.

He said his speech was "prophetic" of likely civil unrest if Mugabe continued to destroy the country.

Ncube, the third ranking party official, said Sunday the threat of arrest would not deter Tsvangirai from returning home.

"It is clear the intention is to intimidate the leadership of the MDC into silence. We don't fear Mugabe's prisons for asserting our democratic rights," he said.

Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since Mugabe led the nation to independence from Britain in 1980. The crisis has been worsened by political violence that left 31 people dead and thousands homeless - most of them MDC supporters - before June's parliamentary elections.

The MDC won 57 of 120 elected seats in those elections, posing the biggest threat to Mugabe's hold on power since independence. Mugabe's party controlled all but three seats in the previous parliament.