Party: Zimbabwe Opposition Members Killed

Four opposition party activists were killed in a firebombing near Harare overnight, the party said Thursday, the attacks carried out even as South African President Thabo Mbeki was in Zimbabwe on a mediation mission.

The opposition has said more than 60 of its activists have been killed in recent weeks, and accuses President Robert Mugabe of unleashing widespread violence to ensure victory over Movement for Democratic Change candidate Morgan Tsvangirai in a presidential runoff to be held in just over a week. Independent human rights activists have implicated police and soldiers as well as Mugabe party militants in the violence.

Movement for Democratic Change spokesman Nqobizitha Mlilo said that militants linked to Mugabe's party were seen in the area before the firebomb attack on the home of one party activist. Mlilo said the activist and three colleagues were killed, an unusually high one-day toll.

Mugabe "is behaving like a warlord," Mlilo said. "This violence must stop."

The international community ratcheted up its rhetoric aimed at Mugabe Thursday, as well, though only in words.

According to the British Broadcasting Corp., a senior Western diplomat in the region said Mugabe's desperate effort to cling to power was "no longer a campaign of violence. This is terror, plain and simple."

Associated Press attempts to reach Zimbabwean police for confirmation of the firebombing were not immediately successful, but the BBC said officials had denied any involvement in the attack.

Wednesday, South Africa's Mbeki held talks with Tsvangirai and then late into the night with Mugabe amid increasing international concern that the June 27 runoff will not be free and fair. Mbeki, who has steadfastly refused to publicly rebuke Mugabe, left late Wednesday without speaking with reporters. His spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment Thursday.

Mugabe spokesman George Charamba was quoted in Thursday's edition of the state newspaper The Herald as saying Mbeki came merely to review election preparations.

Mbeki says confrontation with Mugabe could backfire. But Mbeki's decision to spend his 66th birthday with the 84-year-old Zimbabwean autocrat underlined the immense pressure he is under at home and abroad. Mbeki is being urged to take a tougher stance or to show that his quiet tactics can work to persuade Mugabe to stop the violence before the election; possibly even to bring Tsvangirai and Mugabe together in a power-sharing compromise.

Tsvangirai has called on Mbeki to step down as mediator, accusing him of bias toward Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change said Tsvangirai met Mbeki in his capacity as a visiting head of state, not as a mediator, on Wednesday.

Mlilo expressed little confidence that Mbeki's visit would make a difference, noting "four people died that very day" the South African visited.

"Mugabe doesn't seem to care what the international community thinks," Mlilo said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded action Wednesday.

"It is time for leaders of Africa to say to President Mugabe that the people of Zimbabwe deserve a free and fair election," she said after a meeting in Washington with Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga - one of the few African leaders who has criticized Mugabe.

"You cannot intimidate opponents, you cannot put opponents in jail, you cannot threaten them with jail on charges of treason and expect to be respected in the international community," Rice said.

Odinga urged world leaders to pressure Mugabe to step down, and called the runoff a "complete sham." Botswana last week also protested to Zimbabwe - a sign that African solidarity with Mugabe is fading.

Jacob Zuma, head of Mbeki's African National Congress, was quoted by South African media Wednesday as saying the runoff was unlikely to be free.

Most observers have praised the conduct of the first round - although not the delay in releasing official results. But there are growing fears that Mugabe will steal the second round through violence and ballot rigging.

In addition to the violence, Tsvangirai's party has seen rallies banned and campaign stops blocked by police. It has had little access to state media.

Mugabe's government earlier this month ordered humanitarian groups to suspend work in the country, accusing them of helping his opponents. That has put hungry Zimbabweans at the mercy of government feeding programs.

Several aid groups said Wednesday the government ban on their work had been partially lifted last week, but they remained wary.

On Wednesday, Zimbabwean opposition No. 2, Tendai Biti, was brought to court in leg irons on charges of treason and other counts the opposition says are politically motivated. Opposition lawyer Lewis Uriri said the hearing was postponed until Thursday because lack of electricity meant recording equipment could not work - a symptom of Zimbabwe's economic meltdown, which has led to dizzying inflation and chronic shortages of most basic supplies.

Biti's alleged offenses include his announcement that Tsvangirai won the first round of presidential voting March 29 before official results were released. The opposition party claims Tsvangirai won outright. According to official results, he came first but not with the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff.