Robert Mugabe gave warning yesterday that he would not cede power if he loses next week’s election to the Opposition in his most explicit statement yet of his refusal to respect the result.

State-controlled media reported his comments to supporters at an election rally, the latest in a series of increasingly menacing threats as Zimbabwe counts down to the June 27 presidential run-off poll. Mr Mugabe’s military-backed regime has been carrying out a campaign of violence aimed at wiping out the opposition vote.

“We fought for this country, and a lot of blood was shed,” Mr Mugabe told his supporters. “We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”

The warning came a day after he declared: “We are ready to go to war.” Evidence, say observers, of mounting concerns that he may not have done enough to secure the vote.

Mr Mugabe’s threat coincided with a sudden worsening in violence in the townships around Harare, as mobs of hundreds of Zanu (PF) youths marched through the streets at night, chanting war songs, dragging people out of their homes and beating them up with sticks, iron rods and axes. Until then the terror campaign had been confined largely to rural areas where security forces and militia groups have conspired to create “no-go zones”, banning aid organisations and all outsiders to prevent them witnessing the intimidation.

The level of violence has increased dramatically in the past two weeks, moving from beatings and torture to mutilation and killing, with several victims burnt alive and others shot.

The run-off vote was triggered after Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change candidate, beat Mr Mugabe in March’s presidential elections but, according to the widely discredited official results, fell short of the 50 per cent needed for outright victory.

In a surreal twist Mr Mugabe moved yesterday to arrest opposition leaders for provoking the violence being carried out by his own forces. Only a handful of incidents have involved opposition supporters attacking those from Zanu (PF).

“We are warning them that we will not hesitate to arrest them and we will do that in broad daylight,” Mr Mugabe told supporters at a campaign rally in Kadoma, south of Harare.

The regime has already targeted opposition leaders for arrest, detaining Mr Tsvangirai to prevent him from campaigning and locking up his deputy, Tendai Biti, on the capital charge of treason. Mr Biti was due to appear in court on the treason charge yesterday but instead police brought new charges against him for “causing disaffection in the security forces,” and for insulting Mr Mugabe by stating that “he is an evil man who should be arrested and handed over to The Hague”.

Mr Biti’s arrest prompted some frustrated African countries, including Botswana, to break ranks with South Africa and call for the regime to back off or risk tainting the upcoming vote.

Gordon Brown gave warning that international election monitors must be allowed to monitor the poll or risk having Mr Mugabe’s “criminal regime” steal the people’s vote.

“In recent weeks under Robert Mugabe’s increasingly desperate and criminal regime Zimbabwe has seen 53 killings, 2,000 beatings, the displacement of 30,000 people and the arrests of opposition leaders,” Mr Brown told reporters after a meeting with President Bush.

“This is wholly unacceptable. Mugabe must not be allowed to steal the election, which is now less than two weeks away.

“We call for Zimbabwe to accept a United Nations human rights envoy to visit Zimbabwe now and to accept international monitors from all parts of the world who are available to ensure that this is a free and fair election,” Mr Brown said. Mr Bush pledged his support, telling Mr Brown: “You obviously are emotional on the subject and I don’t blame you, because the people of Zimbabwe have suffered under Mugabe’s leadership. We will work with you to ensure these good folks have free and fair elections to the best extent possible, which obviously Mr Mugabe does not want to have.”

Zimbabwe has barred monitors from Western countries, allowing in only those from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community. Neither of those organisations has ever given Zimbabwe a negative verdict on its elections, despite widespread fraud since 2002.

A senior UN envoy, Haile Menkerios, arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday for a five-day visit to assess the political and humanitarian crisis, a concession forced on Mr Mugabe by the UN. Some have speculated that the Government might call off the election at the last minute if it is not confident of winning but that victory by any means remains their goal.

“Mugabe is worried,” said Eldred Masunungure, a political commentator. “He has never been this aggressive before. The threat is real and credible. My assessment is that it is 50-50. Mugabe is not confident of victory but Tsvangirai is also worried that support is shifting and he may not be able to cross the threshold. It is unpredictable.”

President's fighting talk

— “Our votes must go together with our guns. After all, any votes we shall have, shall have been the product of the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer - its guarantor” (1976)

— “Our party must continue to strike fear in the heart of the white man, our real enemy!” (December 2000)

— “We are no longer going to ask for the land but we are going to take it without negotiating” (2000)

— “We have degrees in violence” (2000)

— “When they criticise the Government ... we take the position that they can go hang” (2007)

— “Let the people's voice thunder across the whole country on 29 March, rejecting and damning once and for all the bootlicking British stooges, the traitors and sellouts, the political witches and political prostitutes, political charlatans and the two-headed political creatures” (2008)

Sources: Times archives

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