The State Department, which on Monday accused Harare of escalating a campaign of "intimidation and suppression," renewed its calls for a dialogye between the government and its foes and again demanded the immediate release of detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
"We deplore the government of Zimbabwe's harassment and provocation of the political opposition," deputy department spokesperson Philip Reeker said.
"This is a time when dialogue between the government and opposition is urgently needed, and the government should immediately cease its assault on the opposition and pursue such a dialogue," he told reporters.
Since Thursday, the State Department has steadily stepped up its criticism of Harare as the government cracked down anew on the opposition.
Reeker said the Mugabe government's pursuit of ruinous economic and social policies alone were responsible for the devastating crises in Zimbabwe and dismissed a treason charge against Tsvangirai as "spurious".
"The violence and coercion that have been propagated by the Mugabe regime threatens Zimbabwe and have inflicted ...overwhelming hardship on the people," he said, adding that the situation would likely get worse unless Mugabe and his aides agreed to a dialogue with the opposition.
"Their continued recalcitrance in the face of the situation there represents really a self-defeating repression of the opposition and stands in the way of a process forward to improve life for Zimbabweans and to put the country back on the course of democracy and stability and prosperity," Reeker said.
The spokesperson was unmoved by reports that one of Tsvangirai's top deputies, Welshman Ncube, who was detained by authorities on Monday three days after his boss, had been freed.
"We think they should both be released and these spurious charges dropped," Reeker said.
The charges against Tsvangirai stem from his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party's call for mass protests against Mugabe's government, which it blames the government for the severe economic and social hardships gripping the country, including food, fuel and money shortages.
Mugabe has accused Tsvangirai of inciting his supporters to overthrow the government although the MDC insists the strikes and streets marches it encouraged last week were intended only to show public anger at the government.
Hundreds of opposition supporters, activists and officials were arrested or assaulted by state agents during the week of mass action.
Mugabe has defended the use of force against the demonstrators, saying it was necessary to preserve national security. - Sapa-AFP.
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