news Zimbabwe Prime Minister Tsvangirai hurt in crash

[rwilli1]

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Tsvangirai hurt in crash

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was hurt along with his wife and an aide in a car crash on the outskirts of the capital Friday, officials said.

Tsvangirai's spokesman initially said their injuries were not life-threatening, but James Maridadi later said the prime minister was under observation. Maridadi also said he had no information about the condition of Tsvangirai's wife, Susan.

The prime minister's Web site said Susan Tsvangirai was in critical condition, but it was not clear how long the information had been posted. The couple married in 1978 and have six children.

President Robert Mugabe arrived at the hospital late in the evening, spent about an hour inside and left. He and other senior aides who also visited did not speak to reporters or Tsvangirai supporters gathered outside.

Tsvangirai's convoy had been traveling to a weekend rally in the prime minister's home region, south of Harare, when their car sideswiped a truck, Maridadi said. No other details on the crash were immediately available.

The road where the accident occurred is like many in Zimbabwe — in poor condition because of a lack of maintenance — and is notorious for accidents. Long stretches have been reduced to one lane.

State television canceled its first evening newscast without explanation and reported nothing about the accident in its second.

Tsvangirai was sworn in Feb. 11 as Zimbabwe's prime minister in a power-sharing deal meant to end almost a year of deadly stalemate with Mugabe, who remains president. The unity government has been rocky after years of rivalry between Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, and Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980.

Tsvangirai formed his Movement for Democratic Change a decade ago. As it emerged as a serious political challenger, Tsvangirai repeatedly faced the wrath of Mugabe's ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai has been beaten and was once nearly thrown from a 10th floor window by suspected government thugs.

Scores of Tsvangirai supporters were in prison even as he joined the government. Several have since been released, but not prominent party member Roy Bennett.

Bennett, Tsvangirai's nominee for deputy agriculture minister, has been jailed since Feb. 13. He faces weapons charges linked to long-discredited claims Tsvangirai's party was plotting to use force to overthrow Mugabe.

Bennett's lawyers had hoped he would be freed Wednesday, after the High Court ruled the state had no right to oppose bail. Prosecutors have appealed the bail ruling and state TV reported Friday that a magistrate had been taken into custody for "alleged abuse of office" for signing a release order for Bennett based on the High Court ruling.

State TV quoted police as saying the release order should not have been signed while the Supreme Court was considering the bail ruling.

Zimbabwe has the world's highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis that has left most of its people dependent on foreign handouts and a cholera epidemic blamed on the collapse of a once-enviable health and sanitation system. Cholera has sickened more than 80,000 and killed more than 3,800 people since August.
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