Mugabe rival leaves Dutch embassy

by Sanjay Jha | July 1, 2008 at 01:18 am | 67 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

Inside Story - Zimbabwe's political conundrum - 25 Jun 08 P2

Morgan Tsvangirai Calls For Armed Peacekeepers In Zimbabwe

After the sham election results in Zimbabwe, opposition leaders who have taken shelter at Dutch embassy have left to return his home. Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the presidential vote on 29 March but failed to win an absolute majority and he reluctantly agreed to participate in the 27 June run-off but withdrew blaming violence which he said had killed nearly 90 of his followers.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has left the Dutch embassy in Harare, where he took refuge last week, a Dutch official has said.
Mr Tsvangirai had decided the situation was calm enough to return home, the Dutch foreign ministry official said.
Mr Tsvangirai went to the embassy fearing for his safety, after pulling out of last Friday's presidential run-off because of election violence.
President Robert Mugabe, the Zanu-PF leader, claimed victory in the vote.
Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says he won the presidential election outright in March, but government officials said he did not secure enough votes to avoid a run-off.
The election has been widely criticised by Western leaders as not being free or fair.