Minus Tsvangirai, MDC gets big crowd at first run-off rally

May 18, 2008, 17:40 GMT

Harare/Johannesburg - The opposition Movement for Democratic Change drew a large crowd Sunday at a rally to kickstart its presidential run-off campaign in the western city of Bulawayo, even without the presence of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

'There were between 12,000 and 16, 000 people there, and the atmosphere was lively and triumphant,' said Mandlankosi Moyo, a local observer.

Tsvangirai had been due to address the rally which marks the start of his campaign for victory in a presidential run-off election on June 27, pitting him against longtime President Robert Mugabe.

However, shortly before he was due to fly back to Zimbabwe from South Africa, he was warned by advisers of a plot to assassinate him on his return, party officials said. No date for his return has been announced.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai are squaring up to do battle in a run-off after neither won an outright victory of over 50 per cent in the first round of voting on March 29, according to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

ZEC credited Tsvangirai with 47.9 per cent of the vote, to 43.2 per cent for Mugabe.

Sunday's rally took place after Bulawayo High Court overturned a police ban on the gathering during the week.

Police had claimed the political atmosphere was 'tense' and that it was 'too risky' to hold political meetings in the city.

Zimbabwe has been rocked by violence since the March elections, most of which has been laid at the door of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

The MDC says 40 of its members have been killed by Mugabe supporters in revenge for the MDC's victory over Zanu-PF in parliamentary elections.

Zanu-PF has described the reports as exaggerated and complained of retaliatory MDC attacks.

South Africa's Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag, called for an international peacekeeping force to be dispatched to Zimbabwe to prevent violence during the run-off.