Zimbabwe: Opposition leader treated for head injury

Zimbabwe: Opposition leader treated for head injury

"He has just had a brain scan because his skull is cracked," spokesman William Bango told Reuters from Tsvangirai's Harare hospital, adding that the opposition leader had also needed blood transfusions.

"He will be here for some time. He is in the intensive care unit," Bango said.

Images of a battered Tsvangirai appearing in court on Tuesday have fuelled world outrage over a crackdown on political protests by President Robert Mugabe's government.

The United States condemned the police action as "ruthless and repressive" and South Africa, which normally avoids direct comment on Zimbabwe's woes, called on Mugabe's government to respect the rule of law.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday expressed "concern" over the situation in Zimbabwe and said said it would "continue to engage all parties in Zimbabwe" in hopes of resolving the country's problems.

Doctors at the Harare Avenues Clinic have not issued any reports on Tsvangirai's health and nursing staff say they do not discuss the condition of individual patients.

Prosecutors fail to appear

Zimbabwe prosecutors had earlier failed to appear for an expected court appearance by Tsvangirai and dozens of others arrested on Sunday for defying a ban on protests.

"The prosecutors are not here, so we are going and they may have to proceed by way of summons," one of Tsvangirai's lawyers, Alec Muchadehama, told reporters outside the court.

Senior prosecutor Joseph Jagada said police had to complete paperwork before the case could proceed.

Lawyers earlier said Tsvangirai, who heads the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had been released from police custody but remained in hospital along with 30 other opposition figures allegedly beaten after their arrest on Sunday.

Another 19 accused were freed and went home, lawyers said.

Tsvangirai was taken to hospital with a deep head wound on Tuesday soon after arriving at court.

Ken Boffard, a professor surgery at Johannesburg Hospital in South Africa, said head wounds could be tricky to treat.

"To break a skull needs a huge amount of force because it is a ring, a structure that basically reinforces itself," he told Reuters. "The concern is he received major damage on Monday, (and) leaving him to Wednesday could see permanent damage."

Sunday's arrests, which occurred as Tsvangirai and other opposition supporters attempted to attend a prayer vigil, came as Zimbabwe faced a deepening economic crisis with inflation at more than 1,700 percent, unemployment of 80 percent and frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.

Zimbabwe's state media has not covered accusations that Tsvangirai and his colleagues were assaulted in custody, but has blamed the opposition for a wave of violence.

On Wednesday, the official Herald newspaper reported that some MDC supporters had gone on an "orgy of violence", barricading roads, destroying property and stoning vehicles in a Harare township on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe tensions have mounted in recent weeks because of plans by Mugabe, now 83 and the country's sole ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, to further extend his rule.

Mugabe originally proposed adjusting election dates to extend his current term by two years to 2010, and then said that if necessary he would be willing to stand in elections in 2008 -- meaning he could remain in office through 2014.