Harare police break up mayor's meeting

The police have wide powers to break up public gatherings

Zimbabwean police have fired tear gas at hundreds of residents of the capital, Harare, as they entered the office of the mayor.

Mayor Elias Mudzuri, who is from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), says he was trying to inform his constituents about water shortages.

I hold meetings every five minutes with more than five people

Mayor Elias Mudzuri

He told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that this was the only way he could communicate with rate-payers because state-owned media refuse to interview him or even carry his adverts.

Mr Mudzuri was arrested two weeks ago for holding an illegal meeting.

Earlier this month, the government announced that it would introduce governors to run Harare and the second city of Bulawayo, which both have MDC mayors.

'Police state'

Under tough new security laws, the police have wide powers to break up meetings of more than five people.

But Mr Mudzuri said the meeting was going to be held in his office and so he did not need police authorisation.

"I hold meetings every five minutes with more than five people," he said.

Mugabe is planning to appoint governors for Harare and Bulawayo

"It's becoming a police state."

He also said that the police were invited to the meeting and had originally given their permission.

Tension is rising in Zimbabwe ahead of the Cricket World Cup, which the country is co-hosting with South Africa and Kenya.

England are due to play in Harare on 13 February but English players want the match switched because of security fears.

The UK Government has urged the cricket authorities not to play in Zimbabwe because of President Robert Mugabe's human rights record.

Several MDC MPs have been arrested for allegedly planning to disrupt the matches.

One of them, Job Sikhala, says he was tortured while in police custody.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for a judicial review into the numerous cases of the torture of opposition activists, which he says are being carried out by the authorities and supporters of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

Meanwhile, five Christian aid-workers have been deported after earlier being accused of working illegally as journalists.

They say they were working for in-house publications of the Lutheran World Federation and so did not need to apply for accreditation under strict new media laws.