By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean police charged a senior MDC official with treason on Friday, just hours after a unity cabinet comprising the opposition party and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF was sworn in, the MDC said.
The move is likely fan tensions between Mugabe and new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, from the Movement for Democratic Change, after they ended months of deadlock over a power-sharing deal designed to rescue their ruined country.
"Police have again changed charges on Roy Bennett. They have now charged him with treason," the MDC said in a statement.
"These charges are scandalous, vexatious and without bases in law, but are simply politically motivated, simply intended to justify the continued incarceration of Roy Bennett."
Police earlier fired live ammunition in the air to disperse MDC supporters who had surrounded the police station in Mutare in the east of the country, the MDC said.
Bennett was nominated by Tsvangirai as deputy minister of agriculture.
"This theatre of absurdity must end," the MDC said.
While the party said Bennett must be immediately released unconditionally and unharmed, it did not threaten any action that could endanger the new unity government.
Bennett, the MDC Treasurer General, had been living in exile in South Africa after fleeing the country about two years ago because police wanted to question him in connection with the discovery of an arms cache in eastern Zimbabwe.
CONDITIONAL WESTERN SUPPORT
Foreign investors and Western donors want concrete signs of stability in Zimbabwe. They have made it clear that funds will not flow to the southern African country until a democratic government is created and economic reforms are made.
A new political crisis will deepen the scepticism of Western countries whose confidence in the new administration is seen as essential for Zimbabwe's economic recovery.
Speaking after Bennett was arrested earlier on Friday, John Makumbe, a political analyst and Mugabe critic, said: "The arrest is a bad sign, a sign he (Mugabe) doesn't care about the feelings of his new partners in that government."
Both sides named party stalwarts to the cabinet rather than technocrats seen as having the expertise needed to lead Zimbabwe out of its crisis. Political analysts have suggested that could lead to further mismanagement.
Close Mugabe ally Emmerson Mnangagwa, touted as a potential successor to the veteran leader, was appointed defence minister. Former defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi was appointed national state security minister.
Tsvangirai picked lawyer and MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti as finance minister.
Some of the ZANU-PF members in the new cabinet have held ministerial posts since independence from Britain in 1980, when Mugabe came to power.
Sensitivities over allocation of cabinet posts, which was the main hurdle in long power-sharing talks, surfaced again at the cabinet swearing-in ceremony.
MDC ministers refused to rehearse the oath-taking ceremony, saying Mugabe had appointed five more ministers than his party had been allocated under the power-sharing agreement.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed last September to share power, but the deal stalled over the allocation of cabinet posts, stirring doubts over whether the old foes could work together.
Zimbabweans face unemployment above 90 percent and prices that double every day. Half the 12 million population need food aid and a cholera epidemic has killed over 3,500 people.
Mugabe appeared relaxed after his cabinet was sworn in.
"Here we are, smiling at each other, making jokes, showing there is a build-up of harmony among us. Long may that continue," he said, addressing a luncheon after the ceremony.
(macdonald.dzirutwe@reuters.com; +263 4 799 112)
