Over 300 Zimbabwean travellers blocked attempts to abduct Tendai Biti at the border

Over 300 Zimbabwean travellers blocked attempts by state security agents to abduct opposition MDC Alliance principal Tendai Biti at the Zimbabwe-Zambia border on Wednesday.

Biti, a former Finance Minister in the 2009-2013 coalition government, shouted out for help as suspected military intelligence officers tried to abduct him on the Zambian side of the border.

According to a BBC report “Zambian officials then intervened and threatened to arrest the Zimbabwean officers for “executing their mandate on Zambian soil”.

Zambia’s foreign minister later told the BBC that Mr Biti’s grounds for asylum were “not meritorious”.

There was great optimism that July’s election would bring real change after the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule last November. But last week six people were killed after the military intervened to curb opposition protests in the capital, Harare.

Correspondents say there is a climate of fear in Zimbabwe, with some members of the opposition going into hiding. 

The electoral commission declared that President Emmerson Mnangagwa won the poll but the MDC Alliance alleges it was rigged.

The opposition says its candidate, Nelson Chamisa, was the victor and the results were manipulated.

Mr Biti’s arrest warrant, seen by the BBC, says he “unlawfully” announced that Mr Chamisa had won the presidential election. Nehanda Radio/BBC