Mugabe opponent rejects charges

Tsvangirai said Mugabe could be removed by force

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader has rejected a charge by state prosecutors that he incited violence against President Mugabe and his government during a speech last year.

Morgan Tsvangirai, who heads the Movement for Democratic Change, told the BBC that the legal move against him was "part of an on-going campaign against government critics".

He said it was a direct response to the opposition's challenge to Mr Mugabe in the High Court.

The High Court began hearing an application by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change on Thursday to nullify last year's election victories by the government.

Reports say he has been released on bail. A provisional trial date has been set for the end of April.

Rally speech

Last September Mr Tsvangirai told a crowd of about 20,000 supporters that if Mr Mugabe refused to go peacefully, then he would be removed violently.

In the face of government criticism at the time Mr Tsvangirai said that he was not calling on his supporters to rise up and rebel against Mr Mugabe.

He explained the comments by saying that because of the economic situation in the country, people would become so angry that they would rebel and unseat the president.

Crackdown

The government appears to be cracking down on opposition figures.

Mr Mugabe is blamed by many for economic problems

Mr Tsvangirai becomes the third senior member of his party to be charged with inciting violence in the past two weeks.

Supreme Court judges who have repeatedly ruled against the government have also been told to resign, while the printing press of a newspaper critical of Mr Mugabe was blown up last month.

The government has also warned that members of the opposition risk having their passports withdrawn if they call for international sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Mr Mugabe faces a tough challenge in presidential elections due next year and it is being suggested that the crackdown now could. be because the governemnt is trying to outmaneuver the opposition and those institutions he does not control, before campaigning starts in earnest.

There is also speculation that he may call an early election to catch the MDC off-guard.