ZIMBABWE: Police have arrested a second key Zimbabwe opposition figure as the party's beleaguered leader was hauled into court after a weekend in jail to face charges of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
A police spokesman 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'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 protests, which the government described 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.
Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Ncube are already being tried for treason in connection with an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe, who was re-elected last year in polls which the MDC and several western governments described as fraudulent.
The legal attacks on the MDC leaders follow vows by Mr Mugabe over the weekend that he would not buckle in the face of the opposition's challenge, which he said was being organised by his enemies in London and Washington. Britain and the United States have led condemnation of his government, particularly its policy of seizing white-owned farms for distribution to landless blacks.
On Friday the International Monetary Fund suspended Zimbabwe's voting rights and banned it from representation within the fund because of its economic policies and outstanding IMF debts.