Zanzibar police swoop on opposition

Nearly 150 opposition supporters were arrested during elections

Police in the semi-autonomous Tanzanian islands of Zanzibar have arrested 40 opposition supporters after a series of bomb explosions on the islands.

Police say the suspects have been charged with attacking government property, and some with an attack on an official of the electoral commission Masoud Muhammad Shambi, in which he was seriously wounded.

Police say those charged are members of a militant wing of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) locally known as "the blue guard".

The bombings follow chaotic elections in Zanzibar whose results were rejected by the opposition and condemned by international observers as shambles.

CUF officials have accused the government of organising the bombings as a pretext for arresting its members.

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The BBC correspondent in Zanzibar, Ally Saleh, said the 40 arrested were accused of attacking a school, municipal building, a state-run hotel and a government office in Pemba island.

Opposition leaders have denied the accusations saying the bomb attacks were designed and carried out by the government in order to detain en masse leaders of CUF.

They said this was similar to what happened after the last disputed election in 1995. The opposition rejected the election results and boycotted parliament.

Eighteen CUF supporters who were detained without trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government of the then president, Dr Salmin Amour, were released on 8 November.

Their release coincided with the inauguration of newly-elected President Amani Karume who urged unity and reconciliation with the opposition.