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Sunday, January 20, 2002 - Web posted at 7:09:05 pm GMT

HARARE - Twenty people were injured and thousands teargassed as Zimbabwe police and militants from President Robert Mugabe's party stopped the opposition holding a rally on Sunday, a spokesman for Mugabe's main opponents said.

Welshman Ncube of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said militants from Mugabe's ZANU-PF occupied a stadium in the second city, Bulawayo, and beat up MDC activists while police teargassed opposition supporters waiting to get into the venue.

Police denied targeting the opposition, which is challenging Mugabe at a presidential election in March, and said they had intervened only to break up fighting between rival groups.

No independent account of the incident was available.

"The police moved in as between 8,000 and 10,000 of our people were waiting outside the stadium to get in for the rally," the MDC's Ncube said by telephone from Bulawayo.

"They chased them and threw teargas," he told Reuters.

"Some of our people have been assaulted and tortured by members of the militia in the stadium," Ncube said, referring to pro-government ZANU-PF militants. "They are on a terror run out here, chasing and assaulting people randomly.

"I hope the world can see what is going on here".

Police said they had not targeted MDC supporters.

"The police moved in to stop violence between supporters of two parties," a police spokesman said. "The police threw teargas to disperse the crowd to avoid any further trouble."

The violence came just hours before a visit by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was due in the capital Harare later on Sunday for talks with Mugabe over his pledge to end violent seizures of white-owned farms.

Mugabe committed himself in Nigeria last year to a peaceful solution to the land problem. But the Commercial Farmers Union, speaking for 4,500 farmers whose properties have been the targets of seizures by black militants loyal to Mugabe has said its members are still being attacked.

Analysts say ZANU-PF has stepped up a violent drive against the MDC and in favour of taking over white-owned farms ahead of the presidential election on March 9-10 in which Mugabe faces a strong challenge from MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe, who turns 78 next month, seems determined to ignore threats of international sanctions in his campaign to retain the power he has held since he led the former British colony of Rhodesia to independence from London 22 years ago.

Zimbabwean journalists vowed on Saturday to launch a series of protests from Tuesday against planned legislation they say will severely undermine media freedom and which has been criticised by the United States and European Union.

Journalists not working for government-controlled media already have very limited access to areas outside main towns.

Under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, due to be debated in parliament on Tuesday, foreign journalists would be barred from Zimbabwe altogether and all reporters and media organisations would have to register with a government-appointed body or face two years in jail.

Reporting that sowed "alarm or despondency" would carry the same penalty. Nampa-Reuters

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