Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Throws Down The Gauntlet

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday issued an ultimatum to President Robert Mugabe. The leader of Zimbabwe's party, the Movement for Democratic Change has said that if 42 activists being illegally detained by Mugabe's regime are not released, he will withdraw from the power-sharing agreement the two have been negotiating since September. On Dec 19th, Mugabe made his first substantive move toward true cooperation by offering Tsvangirai to be sworn in as Zimbabwe's Prime Minister. Tsvangirai made a statement to reporters in Gaborone, Botswana, saying "The MDC can no longer sit at the same negotiating table with a party that is abducting our members and other innocent civilians and refusing to produce any of them before a court of law." In a responsive press conference, Mugabe claimed, "Zimbabwe is mine," and further asserts that no other African government can "topple him," claiming no other nation is brave enough to challenge him.