Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean opposition leader, was detained at Harare Airport today and had his passport confiscated by secret police.

The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change was heading to a regional summit in South Africa when he was stopped by intelligence agents. He was held briefly with two colleagues and then released once their flight had departed without them.

Tendai Biti, MDC Secretary-General, who was one of those detained, said: “They have taken our passports. This is a reflection of their insincerity. They want to talk to us yet they behave like hooligans.”

A South African presidential spokesman said that officials had appealed to the Zimbabwean Government to allow Mr Tsvangirai and his MDC team to attend the 14-nation Southern African Development Community summit.

The arrests came during a crucial and tense period in Zimbabwean politics. Mr Tsvangirai has been under increasing pressure to sign a deal with President Mugabe this week after power-sharing talks broke down.

Reports have suggested that Mr Mugabe would strike a deal with Arthur Mutambara, the leader of an opposition splinter group, and ignore Mr Tsvangirai’s refusal to sign up.

The MDC leader walked out of negotiations on Tuesday claiming that the President was unwilling to cede enough of his authority to form a viable coalition, but he said today that he was “hopeful” that the power-sharing talks would continue. “The whole thing was going to be determined at this SADC summit,” he said.

The Zimbabwean political crisis was expected to feature prominently in discussions in South Africa this weekend, but it is now unclear if the MDC delegation will attend.

An MDC spokesman said that Mr Tsvangirai was held briefly along with his party’s number two, Mr Biti, and Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, the international relations secretary. They have now had their travel documents returned to them.

“The three were part of the MDC delegation that was going to South Africa for the SADC summit to be held this weekend,” he said.

“Operatives from the Central Intelligence Organisation seized the MDC leadership’s passports and briefly detained them, saying their names were ’on the list’. They did not reveal what so-called list was about.”

The regional and international community has put Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe under immense pressure to reach an agreement on sharing power after discredited elections earlier in the year.

Mr Tsvangirai claimed outright victory over the incumbent President in March elections, but the Government rejected that claim and forced a second round vote for president.

The MDC leader then pulled out of the June run-off saying that it was too dangerous for supporters to vote against Zanu (PF), leaving the way clear for Mr Mugabe to declare an unchallenged victory.

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