Mugabe’s real face

A Harare journalist says he has seen militiamen loyal to President Robert Mugabe chopping off people's hands and breaking their fingers to prevent them from voting in Friday's runoff.

His story speaks to a larger violence that has wracked the African nation since April. The 23-year-old woman in Harare, Zimbabwe, said she could talk, but only briefly. It was 3:30 p.m. there and she had to be home before the 6 p.m. curfew, she said.

"I should be home in an hour, hour and a half. If I'm not home by then, it means trouble," she said Tuesday. Zimbabweans are accustomed to violence, but the beatings and bloodshed have been epidemic since early April, days after opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai pushed longtime President Robert Mugabe into a runoff election for the nation's top post.

Tsvangirai dropped out of the race this week, citing intimidation and vote-rigging. He is now in hiding at the Dutch Embassy, uncertain like most Zimbabweans whether the violence would continue. Zimbabweans and outside observers say militias loyal to Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) have engaged in intimidation tactics designed to deter Tsvangirai's supporters from casting ballots.

The real face of a monster called Mugabe!

How far, Mugabe?

The big question this minute in Harare is how far Mugabe and his gang are willing to go. The first signs are coming from the police forces.

Armed police in Zimbabwe have prevented lawyers from the opposition MDC from entering the high court to file a petition on the presidential elections. Lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the police had threatened to shoot them.

The MDC wants the court to force officials to release the result of last Saturday's poll. It says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the ballot. His opponent President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has said it will back him if a run-off is called. The police apparently came from presidential offices across the street; tell the lawyers no-one could enter the court. Another opposition lawyer, Andrew Makoni, later said the hearing - originally scheduled for 1200 local time (1000 GMT) - had been postponed until Sunday.

Zimbabwean Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga accused the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) of spreading false and malicious reports to get international sympathy. He said police had probably been trying to contain the party's rowdy supporters. The MDC has also called for international help to prevent possible violence if a second round is held.