By Nelson Banya HARARE, June 23 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai will urge Africa this week to pile pressure on President Robert Mugabe to solve the country's political crisis after the opposition pulled out of a presidential run-off vote. Tsvangirai withdrew from the June 27 election saying his Movement for Democratic Change supporters would be risking their lives it they cast their votes. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Tsvangirai would lobby the international community and African countries to put pressure on Mugabe to settle the crisis. "Over the next two days, the (MDC) president will be explaining our decision to the world, lobbying the international community, but mainly SADC and the African Union, to put pressure on the Mugabe regime to resolve the crisis we are facing," Chamisa said, referring to the regional grouping the Southern African Development Community. We need this regime to respect democracy and the will of the people," he added. Tsvangirai said on Sunday there was a state-sponsored plot to keep Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980, in power. "We in the MDC cannot ask them (the voters) to cast their vote on June 27, when that vote could cost them their lives," he said. There was no immediate reaction from Mugabe who in the past has blamed election violence on the opposition but Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Tsvangirai had simply quit the race because he knew he would lose. "The situation on the ground is now very supportive of us and Tsvangirai knows he faces certain defeat," he said. There has been growing condemnation from African countries over Zimbabwe's political crisis and the violence which the MDC says has left 86 people dead and displaced 200,000. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, the current SADC chairman, said it was not possible to hold a free and fair election in Zimbabwe and the run-off should be postponed "to avert a catastrophe in this region." "TYRANNICAL RULE" Tsvangirai called on the United Nations and the African Union to intervene to stop "genocide" in the former British colony. In Washington, a White House spokesman said Mugabe's government must stop the violence immediately while Britain said the people had deserted Mugabe. "We have reached an absolutely critical moment in the drive by the people of Zimbabwe to rid themselves of the tyrannical rule of Robert Mugabe," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. Thabo Mbeki, president of leading regional power South Africa, said he would encourage Mugabe and Tsvangirai to discuss the political crisis. "From our point of view it is still necessary that the political leadership of Zimbabwe should get together and find a solution to the challenges that face Zimbabwe," said Mbeki, who is mandated by SADC to mediate between the opposition and the ZANU-PF. Tsvangirai has been detained by police five times while campaigning. The opposition party said army helicopters were patrolling over Harare and Bulawayo, the second city, and that Zimbabwe was effectively under military rule. More than 2,000 youth members of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PAF party were on the rampage, attacking citizens in central Harare, the MDC said. Mugabe has vowed never to turn over power to the opposition, which he brands a puppet of Britain and the United States. He has in the past denied that his security forces have been responsible for brutal actions. Once Tsvangirai pull outs, Mugabe would then be sworn in for another five-year term. But he could face difficulties governing as the MDC won control of the parliament in a March election. Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in a March 29 vote but failed to win the absolute majority needed to avoid a second ballot. Mugabe has presided over a ruinous slide in a once prosperous economy. Millions have fled the political and economic crisis to neighbouring states. -- For a related analysis, click on [ID:nL22654194] -- For full coverage of the run-off, click on [ID:nL22313134] (Additional reporting by Cris Chinaka; Writing by Marius Bosch; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Riot police keep watch at Show Grounds, the venue for the opposition Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) election rally which was due to take place in Harare June 22, 2008. Zimbabwe's ...
