HARARE, Zimbabwe - The leader of Zimbabwe's opposition was detained by police for about eight hours Wednesday amid ominous signs the government is tightening its grip on the country less than four weeks before a presidential run-off election.
Morgan Tsvangirai, who returned 12 days ago to face President Robert Mugabe in the June 27 run-off, was held with about 14 others from his Movement for Democratic Change at a police station north of Bulawayo before being released late in the day, his spokesman said. No charges were filed against them.
Tsvangirai's detention had been condemned by the United States, Britain, Germany and the human rights group Amnesty International.
Among those who had been held with Tsvangirai were the party's vice-president, Thokozane Kupe, and chairman, Lovemore Moyo. They were stopped by police at a roadblock while campaigning in towns north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, according to Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe.
Tsvangirai, 56, says he won the first round of the election outright and that official results released May 2 showing a run-off was needed were fraudulent.
"Mugabe is determined to turn the whole country into a war zone in order to subvert the will of the people and steal the June 27 election by any means possible,'' Tsvangirai said in Bulawayo earlier Wednesday.
The opposition leader left Zimbabwe after the March 29 vote and delayed his return after his party said he was the target of a military assassination plot.
Tsvangirai has survived at least three assassination attempts. In 1997, assailants tried to throw him from a 10th floor window.
Last year, he was hospitalized after a brutal assault by police at a prayer rally. Images seen around the world of his bruised and swollen face have come to symbolize the plight of dissenters in Zimbabwe.
Independent human rights groups say opposition supporters have been beaten and killed by government and ruling party thugs to ensure the 84-year-old Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, wins the second round. He trailed Tsvangirai in the first round.
Mugabe was lauded early in his rule for campaigning for racial reconciliation and building the economy. But in recent years, he has been accused of holding onto power through fraud and intimidation, and trampling on political and human rights.
Zimbabwe's collapsing economy was a major concern of voters during the first round of voting. People are going hungry in what was once the region's breadbasket, with the world's highest inflation rate putting food staples out of reach.
Zimbabwe's economic decline has been blamed on the collapse of the key agriculture sector after the seizures -- often violent and at Mugabe's orders -- of farmland from whites. Mugabe claimed the seizures begun in 2002 were to benefit poor blacks, but many of the farms went to his loyalists.
On Tuesday, Mugabe addressed world leaders at a UN summit in Rome on the global food crisis against a backdrop of sharp criticism over his participation and defended his policy of seizing lands from whites. Some delegations, including those of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, said they wouldn't talk to Mugabe at the summit.
Although police granted permission for Tsvangirai to hold rallies this week, Mugabe's ZANU-PF party ordered the army to camp on the grounds of the venues, the opposition said.
At least two of Tsvangirai's rallies have been banned on security grounds by police, who said they could not guarantee his safety.
The opposition and human rights groups have criticized the violence and intimidation ahead of the run-off vote, and some Zimbabweans worry that Mugabe will try to steal the election.
The opposition said while the group has been held they have received news of deaths of seven party activists, bringing to 65 the number of supporters killed since March.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack urged the Zimbabwean government "to create an atmosphere where those who have political views different from the government can speak out free from intimidation and violence. Sadly, this has not been the case.''
McCormack said the United States will continue to focus a spotlight on Zimbabwe in the hope of spurring change.
Germany called on Harare to conduct a "second round of voting that is transparent and free of incidents,'' the Foreign Ministry said in Berlin.
The German government called Tsvangirai's arrest "an example of how the government in Harare is trying to weaken the opposition and intimidate voters ahead of the second round of voting.''
Amnesty International said Tsvangirai's detention was "part of a sudden, sharp and dangerous crackdown on political opposition in the run-up to the elections.''
The group also raised concerns about "severely tightening restrictions'' placed by the government on international aid agencies distributing food and other assistance to Zimbabweans.
CARE International has been ordered to halt operations pending an investigation of allegations it was campaigning for the opposition. CARE denies that was the case.
Other aid groups have also been told to curb activities in Zimbabwe and there is concern the decision will worsen Zimbabwe's food security problems.
"By introducing restrictions against aid workers in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwean government is attempting to hide the worst of the state-sponsored violence from the eyes of the world,'' Amnesty International said.
