Zimbabwe government accuses Tsvangirai of treason

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government on Thursdayaccused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of treason and ofworking with former colonial power Britain to topple PresidentRobert Mugabe in recent elections.

Responding to a chorus of international criticism ofZimbabwe's long delay in issuing results of the March 29 vote,Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa accused Tsvangirai -- whosays he defeated Mugabe in the election -- of being a Britishpuppet.

At a summit of the United Nations and African Union onWednesday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "No onethinks, having seen the results of polling stations, thatPresident Mugabe has won."

Chinamasa responded: "It is clear from the correspondencethat Tsvangirai along with Brown are seeking regime change inZimbabwe, and on the part of Tsvangirai, this is treasonous."

He added in a statement in state media: "There is nodoubting the consequences for acting in a treasonous manner."

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accusesMugabe of organising a violent militia crackdown to help himsteal the March 29 elections, in which his ZANU-PF party lostcontrol of parliament for the first time in his 28-year rule.

No official results have been released from thepresidential vote which has been embroiled in a series of legalcases.

The Group of Eight advanced nations were the latest to jointhe international criticism on Thursday, expressing "deepconcern" about rising tension in Zimbabwe.

G8 foreign ministers urged a "speedy, credible andgenuinely democratic resolution" to the situation and a swiftrelease of the results, according to a statement released bythis year's group host, Japan.

"They stress that violence and intimidation must have noplace in this process," a statement added.

FAIR OUTCOME

Brown was speaking at a summit in New York where Westernstates and the United Nations urged action to ensure a fairoutcome from the Zimbabwe election.

But African countries avoided the issue and SecurityCouncil president South Africa opposed discussion of Zimbabwe.President Thabo Mbeki is under increasing criticism at home forinsisting on a softly softly approach of quiet diplomacy inZimbabwe.

Chinamasa accused Brown of taking a hard line to promoteBritish interests, undermine Zimbabwe's electoral processes andmislead the international community.

"We tell him (Brown) clearly and without ambiguity that weare not a colony of the British," said Chinamasa, repeating afrequent line by Mugabe who paints London, not Tsvangirai ashis real opponent.

Zimbabwe's economy is in ruins, with 80 percentunemployment, chronic food shortages and the world's worstinflation rate of almost 165,000 percent. Mugabe is widelyblamed for the collapse and critics say the country's miserywill only end when he is replaced.

Trying to counter accusations at home that he is taking toosoft a line on Zimbabwe, Mbeki told reporters after the summitthe only way for mediators to resolve the impasse was to keeptalking with both Mugabe's government and the opposition.

A defensive Mbeki conceded at a news conference in New Yorkthere were "things that have gone wrong" in Zimbabwe and saidopposition parties must be able to participate in verifying theelection results.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon indicated to thegathering he was not satisfied with a soft approach.

"The Zimbabwean authorities and the countries of the regionhave insisted that these matters are for the region to resolvebut the international community continues to watch and wait fordecisive action," Ban said.

"A stolen election would not be a democratic election atall," Brown told the summit. "Let a single clear message go outfrom here in New York that we ... stand solidly behinddemocracy and human rights for Zimbabwe."

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Barry Moody;Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnipat the United Nations)