HARARE, Zimbabwe - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday he is pulling out of this week's presidential runoff because mounting violence and intimidation have made it impossible to hold a credible election.Tsvangirai announced his decision about Friday's election during a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital after thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the site of the opposition's main campaign rally in a now routine pattern of intimidation. 'We can't ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote will cost their lives. We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election,' he said. 'Mugabe has declared war, and we will not be part of that war.'
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Tsvangirai won the first round of the presidential election on March 29, but did not gain an outright majority against 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has held power since independence from Britain in 1980. That campaign was generally peaceful, but the runoff has been overshadowed by violence and intimidation, especially in rural areas. Independent human rights groups say 85 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, most of them opposition supporters.
Tsvangirai complained that he was being treated like a 'common criminal,' with his attempts to tour the country stymied by police at roadblocks. The state-controlled media have banned opposition advertisements, claiming they 'contain inappropriate language and information.' The media cited one ad that claimed that Tsvangirai won the election, 'which is not the case, hence the runoff.'
Tendai Biti, the opposition party's No. 2, was arrested within minutes of his return from South Africa last week and is being held on treason charges.
Tsvangirai had hoped to address his main campaign rally for the runoff Sunday afternoon. But a Movement for Democratic Change statement said that armed soldiers and police in full riot gear took over the show ground early afternoon. It said that riot police mounted road blocks around the venue and on the main approaches to Harare. It said troops were jogging down another road leading into central Harare.
The party said military helicopters were flying around the city and around the second city of Bulawayo. 'Zimbabwe clearly is under military rule,' the statement said.
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Thousands of ruling party militants blockaded the show ground site and set up road blocs at the main approach streets, ripped branches from trees and hurled stones at cars. Hundreds of militants, many with sticks and wearing ZANU-PF ruling party colors, marched past its headquarters chanting slogans. Eight ZANU-PF trucks, warning lights flashing and crammed with passengers, circled the grounds.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claimed that the militants were beating opposition supporters who were trying to reach the venue and said at least two were seriously injured. It said the militants attacked journalists and forced African election monitors, who had been driving around the rally site, to flee. Election monitors could not immediately be reached for comment and there was no independent confirmation of the opposition claims.
'It is evident that the Mugabe regime has disregarded regional and continental opinion that has been calling for an end to disruption of MDC election campaign programs, state sanctioned brutality, violence and harassment of the people of Zimbabwe,' the opposition said in a statement. 'The observers on the ground surely ought to be seeing this systematic state harassment of the MDC. The regime does not even want to pretend that the election will be free and fair,' it said.
Zimbabwe has barred Western observers and most journalists, but the Southern African bloc hopes to send in about 400 monitors, and there are also some from the Pan-African Parliament.
At a rally in the western city of Bulawayo on Friday, Mugabe said that the opposition was lying about the violence and said everywhere he visited was peaceful. His powerful police chief pinned the blame firmly on the opposition and said that police would clamp down.
Some analysts say a small inner circle of security chiefs has orchestrated the current violence as it is desperate to prevent an opposition victory and wants to keep Mugabe in power to retain its privileges and protect it from possible prosecution.