ZIMBABWE'S Robert Mugabe kept his opponents guessing today as the question of who won last week's presidential election remained unanswered.
His main opponents accused him of "unleashing a war" against them, with some reports claiming he was considering a re-run of the voting, while others feared he was about to declare a state of emergency and use it to crush his challengers.
Meanwhi
le, the Foreign Office said today it is urgently looking into reports that a British journalist has been detained in Zimbabwe.
Security agents and police entered a hotel in the capital Harare yesterday, taking away five journalists. It is believed that two were arrested for reporting without accreditation.
Zimbabwean lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said that of the five detained two were jailed and would be charged today for practising journalism without licences. She said the other three had been released.
Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, later confirmed that its correspondent Barry Bearak was among the reporters initially taken away. The identities of the others have not been determined.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has still not released official election results from Saturday's vote, despite increasing international pressure.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the presidency outright, but that it is prepared to compete in a run-off.
MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said hotel rooms used as offices by the opposition at a Harare hotel were ransacked today by intruders he believed were either police or agents of the feared Central Intelligence Organisation.
"Mugabe has started a crackdown," Mr Biti said. "It is quite clear he has unleashed a war."
Yesterday Mr Tsvangirai tried to reassure security chiefs who vowed a week ago not to serve anyone but Mugabe, according to a close source.
But a meeting with seven generals was cancelled when the officers said that they had been ordered not to attend.
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since his guerrilla army helped bring about an independent Zimbabwe in 1980.
The full article contains 339 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
