Zimbabwe lifts ban on Harare rallies and protests

HARARE, Jun 29 (Reuters) Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on political rallies and protests in Harare which the opposition had likened to a state of emergency, but police permits are still required for such gatherings.

President Robert Mugabe's government imposed a three-month ban on rallies and demonstrations in February over fears of an opposition uprising in the face of a growing economic crisis, and had renewed the restrictions in the past two months.

In a statement today, police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the police officer in charge of Harare province had on Wednesday lifted the temporary orders stopping rallies in the capital, including one that was renewed on June 24.

''We have lifted all the prohibition orders that had been issued in terms of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), banning the holding of all political gatherings in the four districts of Harare,'' he said.

Bvudzijena said all political parties had been advised of this, and told they could now hold rallies in the capital but had to apply for police approval as stipulated in Zimbabwe's tough POSA law.

''We appeal to the political parties to follow the law, and if they don't they will have themselves to blame,'' he said, adding: ''The police would not hesitate to ban rallies if there is any political violence and acts of hooliganism.'' Opposition officials were not immediately available for comment today.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has previously likened the ban on rallies, which was accompanied by a government crackdown on its leaders, to a state of emergency.

The MDC said Mugabe had imposed the ban in the opposition urban strongholds to cripple its operations ahead of general elections due by March next year.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF government has routinely used riot police squads to crush anti-government rallies, most recently on May 8 when they used rubber batons to disperse a march by human rights lawyers protesting against the arrest of two colleagues.

Tension rose sharply in early March after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dozens of other MDC members suffered serious injuries after being arrested by police at an aborted prayer rally in Harare.

Mugabe accuses the MDC of being stooges of Zimbabwe's former colonial power Britain in an effort to oust his government, as punishment for seizing and redistributing white-owned commercial farms to landless blacks.

Britain denies there is such a plot.

REUTERS SKB HT1930