By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Lawyers for detained Zimbabweanopposition official Tendai Biti asked a court to release himunconditionally on Tuesday after police failed to bring him tocourt to face a treason charge.
Biti, the secretary-general of the Movement for DemocraticChange, has been in police custody since he was arrested atHarare airport on Thursday as he returned home ahead of a June27 presidential election run-off.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, challenging veteran PresidentRobert Mugabe in the vote, was detained and released at leastthree times last week.
Police said they were holding Biti for announcing theresults of the March 29 general elections prematurely. He facesa possible death penalty if convicted of the treason charge.
"We are seeking a declaration of his continued detention asunlawful and for his immediate release. The application wasfiled this morning, but we are yet to be allocated a judge tohear it," defence lawyer Lewis Uriri said.
Uriri added that it was possible that the police would laymore charges against Biti.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe, 84, in the election but failedto win the absolute majority required to avoid a run-off,according to official figures.
Mugabe, who has ruled since independence from Britain in1980, is fighting to keep power amid a desperate economiccrisis that has brought hyperinflation and food shortages andhas driven millions of Zimbabweans to seek work abroad.
VIOLENCE
The MDC accuses the government of waging a violent campaigndesigned to intimidate the opposition and its supporters aheadof the run-off.
At least 66 opposition activists have been killed byZANU-PF militia since the March elections, the MDC says. Mugabeblames the opposition for the violence that has causedwidespread international concern.
"This election is flawed. It is not free and fair and,therefore, whatever result comes out will be illegitimate,"Maureen Kademaunga, an official with the independent MediaMonitoring Project Zimbabwe, told reporters in Nairobi.
Mugabe threatened on Monday to arrest MDC leaders over theviolence.
Last week he said that his supporters were ready to take uparms to prevent the African nation from falling under thecontrol of the country's white minority and Western powers, awarning that followed a vow to never let the MDC take power.
A government minister dismissed speculation that theelection might be cancelled to avoid the risk of a Tsvangiraiwin.
"There is no intention of us postponing the run-off. Therun-off is going to take place on the 27th of June, so focus onthat and the results coming immediately after that date,"Emmerson Mnangagwa, who heads the rural housing and socialamenities ministry, said at a press conference in Maputo.
"We of the ZANU-PF are convinced we are winning thisparticular run-off hands down and with a landslide victory forPresident Mugabe."
A senior U.N. envoy, Assistant Secretary-General forPolitical Affairs Haile Menkerios, arrived in Zimbabwe late onMonday for a five-day visit to assess Zimbabwe's political andhumanitarian crisis before the run-off vote.
Zimbabwe recently banned foreign aid groups from working inthe country, raising fears that tens of thousands ofZimbabweans would go hungry without food hand-outs.
Mugabe's government says that the ban does not apply toAIDS-related work and church groups.
(Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis in Nairobi andCharles Mangwiro in Maputo; Writing by Paul Simao; Editing byMatthew Tostevin)
