Police in Zimbabwe have arrested a second key opposition figure on treason charges, it emerged this evening.
This comes as oppostion leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai was hauled into court after a weekend in jail to face charges of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
Police said Mr Welshman Ncube, the secretary-general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested on treason charges for allegedly inciting five days of anti-Mugabe protests last week.
Mr Ncube, who had spent the weekend in hiding after Friday's arrest of the MDC leader Mr Tsvangirai, went to court today and turned himself in.
"I denied the charges," he told reporters at the court, before leaving for more police questioning.
Mr Ncube's arrest came as Mr Tsvangirai appeared at the same Harare courthouse to face his own set of treason charges stemming from last week's MDC-organised protests, which the government describes as an attempt to foment a coup d'etat.
Mr Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader who has mounted the strongest challenge Mr Mugabe has seen in his 23 years in power, looked exhausted after a weekend in jail but managed a wan smile for supporters packing the courtroom.
The two MDC leaders are already being tried for treason in connection with an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe, who was re-elected last year in polls the MDC and several Western governments described as fraudulent.
Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers said they would not immediately challenge the government's effort to bring a second treason case against their client but were trying to get him freed on bail.
He was returned to custody after today's hearing and is expected to return to the High Court tomorrow for a hearing on his bail application.