Opposition blamed for Zanzibar violence

Violence marred October's election

Zanzibari President Amani Abeid Karume has said that opposition leaders will be arrested after the weekend's violence which left at least 19 dead.

The president made it clear, in a public statement, that he blamed the opposition leaders for the trouble because they insisted on going ahead with banned demonstrations.

On Monday morning, the Zanzibar government said people should return to work as normal. The situation on the main island of Zanzibar was said to be calm.

On Sunday, opposition demonstrators fought running battles with police for a second day.

More troops

The government of Tanzania has sent troop reinforcements to the semi-autonomous islands to try to restore order.

Police say that 19 people were killed in the violence, which began after the government banned opposition rallies calling for fresh elections.

Witnesses said those who died included four policemen who were hacked and stoned to death by protesters.

Police arrested more than 200 people as the violence spread to the mainland, including Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam.

International concern

The Tanzanian authorities' tactics have alarmed many of the country's main aid donors, among them the European Union.

"It's very clear that the Tanzanian authorities met the demonstrators with excessive violence," said Gun-Britt Andersson, from the Swedish foreign ministry.

Ms Andersson, who was in Dar es Salaam on behalf of the EU, said hard line tactics were not the right way to deal with anger over the conduct of the elections.

Doctors on Pemba, scene of some of the worst violence, there said there were scores of injured but hospitals were prevented from taking them in.

''It is very dangerous, the situation is very tense,'' a doctor on Pemba said.

On Zanzibar Island, the violence was less widespread, and police had closed off roads and the port, trapping many tourists.

President Mkapa's government warned people not to take part in the rallies

Fresh elections

The opposition Civic United Front (CUF), has made repeated calls for a re-run of last October's poll on the islands.

The election was relatively trouble-free on the mainland, but international monitors said it was not conducted freely and fairly on Zanzibar and Pemba.

The government of President Benjamin Mkapa had said the CUF demonstrations were illegal and warned people not to take part.

On Friday, the CUF chairman, Ibrahim Lipumba, was charged in the main city, Dar-es-Salaam, with unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace. He appeared in court along with 15 other CUF members on the same charges.

Mr Lipumba had injuries to his arms, which some observers said supported opposition allegations that he was beaten in the course of his arrest.