The veteran Zimbabwean opposition leader, Ndabaningi Sithole, has been sentenced to two years in jail for plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe.

He was also given a suspended sentence for other offences including possessing arms.

Mr Sithole, who is 77 and said to have a number of serious health problems, had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He has been freed on bail pending an appeal. Passing sentence, the trial judge, Ismael Chatikobo, said that in deciding the sentences, he had taken into account Mr Sithole's age and the fact that he was in need of constant medical attention.

As a result, he said, he would have wished to avoid Mr Sithole going to prison, but his hands were tied, because the conspiracy-to- murder conviction demanded a jail sentence.

Before he left the court, Mr Sithole told reporters and a crowd of his party supporters that his trial had been prompted by what he described as a frightened government that had built an empire of evil and corruption.

He said he would go back to work on his memoirs, adding that he still had plans to become President of Zimbabwe.
 

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