20110326
reuters

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police on Friday cancelled an opposition rally set for the weekend and arrested a cabinet minister, deepening antagonism between the president and the prime minister's party ahead of a possible election.

President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are supposed to be partners in a unity government but it is coming apart at the seams.

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti told a news conference that police had for third time this month cancelled a major rally called by his party for Sunday, saying Mugabe's ZANU-PF had organised a football tournament at the same venue.

"Democracy is under siege because of toxic activities of our (ZANU-PF) colleagues whose intention is (the) collapse of the global political agreement and parliament and to force through an election this year," he said.

There was no immediate comment from the police or ZANU-PF.

The MDC said Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma, who was on bail on a graft charge over a fuel import deal, was arrested on Friday for the second time in two weeks.

Mangoma, a Tsvangirai ally and deputy treasurer of the MDC, is accused of forcing officials to cancel a tender contract for a power supply pre-payment system. Mangoma's lawyer Selby Hwacha said the minister would plead not guilty.

"As far as we are concerned this is part of a harassment campaign that ZANU-PF has embarked on against our structures, and it is the type of campaign that we have suffered before every general election," an MDC official told Reuters.