Harare — The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has called for a second extension of Zimbabwe's controversial election, after voting on Monday - the first extension ordered by the High Court - was chaotic, with voting centres opening late, closing intermittently, or simply remaining shut.
Meanwhile, four American diplomats were detained, Monday, in Zimbabwe - two of them accredited election observers, the United States Embassy said in the capital, Harare. The four were held at a roadblock north-west of Harare, in what has been called a violation of established diplomatic conventions.
The United States government has, along with Britain and Australia, led Western protests against President Robert Mugabe, imposing selected sanctions against the Zimbabwean leader and his close associates. Washington has threatened to increase those penalties if the presidential election was not deemed to be free and fair.
The news of the Americans' arrest followed an announcement by the opposition MDC that one of its top officials, the party's secretary-general, Welshman Ncube, had been detained near the country's second city, Bulawayo.
At a news conference on Monday morning, the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai, who is challenging President Robert Mugabe in the presidential poll, urged his supporters to show restraint in the face of provocation by the government.
Tsvangirai also hinted that he, himself, might be in danger. "They may want to arrest me and, at worst, kill me, but they will never destroy the spirit of the people to reclaim their power."
He repeated earlier accusations that President Robert Mugabe's government was determined to rob the opposition of election victory, pointing to chaotic and painfully slow voting at the weekend which he said meant that "multitudes of potential voters are being disenfranchised."
Late on Sunday, the High Court in Harare granted the opposition a nationwide day-long extension of polling on Monday, to allow thousands of Zimbabweans still queuing to vote in the opposition's strongholds to cast their ballots.
But Mugabe's authorities defied the court order to open polling stations across the country, restricting the unscheduled third day of voting to centres in Harare and neighbouring Chitungwiza.
Mugabe's electoral support lies in rural Zimbabwe, where the opposition and international observers noted that there were plenty of polling stations to cater for voters.
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The MDC has said the authorities slashed the number of polling stations in urban areas whence it draws most of its support, just before the election, in order to undermine efforts by tens of thousands of opposition supporters to vote.
Frustration among voters, some of whom had waited up to 20 hours, boiled over on Monday, but many were determined to stay firm. Tsvangirai issued a statement assuring MDC loyalists that he shared their concerns that the government was fixing the election. But he appealed to his supporters to remain calm. "Restrain yourselves so you do not allow their sinister plans to succeed; do not succumb to their provocative traps," he warned.
Government officials, who appeared to contradict each other over the weekend, issuing conflicting responses to calls for an election extension, remained quiet on Monday.
The Information Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has called a news conference for 18:00h local time, [20:00h GMT, 13:00h EST].
