Mugabe's Thugs Detain Tsvangirai Again

For the second time in a week, Mugabe's thugs have detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Police briefly detained Zimbabwe's opposition presidential candidate Friday for the second time this week and told him the party's rallies had been banned indefinitely three weeks before the runoff election, an aide said.

The latest setback for Morgan Tsvangirai's campaign came as U.N. aid agencies said they were deeply concerned after aid groups were ordered to halt operations in a move that could hamper food deliveries in impoverished Zimbabwe.

In a statement released Friday, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said police had banned the rallies out of concern for the safety of Tsvangirai and other party leaders.

Sibotshiwe called the justification "nonsense," and said the ban was "a clear indication that the regime will do everything necessary to remain in power."

Tsvangirai was told that all future rallies by his organization have been banned by the government.

That comes a day after his thugs detained American and British diplomats, threatening them with physical harm, and slashing the tires of one of the American vehicles.

Mugabe is becoming more brazen in his attacks on the opposition, and going after the US and British diplomats seems like a serious overreach, though I doubt that Mugabe thinks anything will happen to him.