Opposition accuses Mugabe of de facto coup

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition accused PresidentRobert Mugabe on Thursday of carrying out a de facto coup tostay in power and said pro-democracy activists were in dangerof their lives.

Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangiraisaid Mugabe, who has held power since independence in 1980,would be ousted with the help of other African nations.

"We'll manage to get Mugabe out. Mugabe is being deserted.No one wants to touch Mugabe in the region now. Eventually, wewill ease him out," Tsvangirai told Time Magazine.

He spoke ahead of an emergency southern African summitcalled for Lusaka at the weekend to discuss growing fears thepost election deadlock could lead to bloodshed in Zimbabwe,already suffering economic collapse.

Tsvangirai's MDC accuses Mugabe, 84, of prolonging a longdelay in issuing the results of a March 29 presidentialelection while he organises a violent response to his biggestdefeat since taking power after independence from Britain.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for thefirst time in the election but no results of the parallelpresidential vote have been issued.

"This is, in a sense, a de facto military coup. They haverolled out military forces across the whole country, to preparefor a run-off and try to cow the population. It's an attempt totry to create conditions for Mugabe to win," Tsvangirai said.

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti told a news conference inJohannesburg: "Quite clearly the situation at home is volatile.The lives of all pro-democracy actors are not safe".

Biti denied reports that Tsvangirai, who has visitedregional powerhouse South Africa to discuss the crisis, wasseeking asylum abroad. He said he would advise him againstreturning home because of the dangers "but he is his own man".

Human Rights Watch said the Lusaka summit was the region's"last real chance" to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis and accused theruling ZANU-PF party of increasing assaults on oppositionactivists and polling agents since the election.

The U.S. based organisation said it had "received credibleinformation of dozens of ... attacks by ZANU-PF supporters."

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the ruling partywas preparing for a runoff after its tallies showed neitherTsvangirai nor Mugabe won the required absolute majority.

The MDC has rejected both a runoff and ZANU-PF attempts tohave at least 14 seats recounted in the parliamentary vote. Itsays Tsvangirai has won and should immediately end Mugabe's28-year rule.

SUMMIT

A South African government spokesman said that PresidentThabo Mbeki will attend Saturday's summit, which was called byZambian President Levy Mwanawasa, chair of SADC (SouthernAfrican Development Community).

Tsvangirai said he would try to persuade SADC leaders toask Mugabe to step down.

SADC has been criticised in the past for failing topressure Mugabe despite the economic collapse in Zimbabwe, nowsuffering the world's highest inflation, chronic shortages offood and fuel and a near worthless currency.

Mwanawasa's summit call came after Jacob Zuma, leader ofSouth Africa's ruling African National Congress, said the pollresults must be released, signalling a more robust reaction tothe crisis than Mbeki who has insisted on "quiet diplomacy"rather than overt pressure.

"We urge all parties to respect the will of the people,regardless of the outcome, and to proceed within therequirements of the law," South Africa's SAPA news agencyquoted Zuma as saying on Thursday.

The long delay in issuing results has dashed hopes of quickaction to turn round a ruined economy that has sent millions ofrefugees fleeing to neighbouring SADC countries.

The official inflation rate is 100,580 percent but analystsbelieve the real level is much higher. An independentZimbabwean newspaper said last week that official figures forFebruary showed inflation at 164,900 percent.

Investors fear that if the Zimbabwean political impassecontinues, it could impact on other countries in the region --especially South Africa, whose rand currency has provenvulnerable to political events in its northern neighbour.

Although the rand benefited last week because of optimismthat the Mugabe era might be ending, traders said Zimbabwe wasnot having any effect now, with all eyes on the South AfricanReserve Bank which raised its key repo rate to 11.5 percent onThursday because of a surge in inflation.

Traders said negative developments in Zimbabwe weregenerally discounted by the market but positive news could givethe rand some support, although it was not a key driver so far.

(Additional reporting by Cris Chinaka, Stella Mapenzauswa,Nelson Banya and Muchena Zigomo; writing by Barry Moody)