Zimbabwean prosecutors urged a Harare court yesterday not to dismiss a treason case against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai for allegedly ordering an assasination on the country's president.

The appeal was made after Tsvangirai's lawyers this week asked the court to halt the trial against him and two senior party officials because the state had not proved its case against them.

"For now, there is enough evidence to warrant that the accused persons be placed on their defence," prosecutor Morgen Nemadire told Judge Paddington Garwe.

So far the marathon trial has only heard evidence from around a dozen state witnesses.

The charges against Tsvangirai and his co-accused hinge on a secretly recorded videotape of a meeting the opposition leader held with Ari Ben Menashe, a Canada-based political consultant, in Montreal in late 2001.

It is alleged that during the meeting Tsvangirai requested that Ben Menashe assassinate President Robert Mugabe and arrange a coup for him to take over power.

The MDC trio deny the charges, which carry the death penalty.

Defence lawyers have told the court it was highly improbable that Tsvangirai would have approached a complete stranger like Ben Menashe with a request to assassinate Mugabe.

However, prosecutors claimed yesterday that the MDC thought the political consultant could be bought off, and that the party wanted to exploit his contacts in the Zimbabwe government to carry out the coup.

"He (Tsvangirai) trusted Menashe," Nemadire said.

"There's no improbability here".

The defence claim that Ben Menashe was paid by the Zimbabwe government to discredit the opposition party ahead of a crunch presidential poll last year, which Tsvangirai lost to Mugabe.

But Nemadire said money paid by the government to Ben Menashe prior to the Montreal meeting was for "expenses" incurred in obtaining the videotaped evidence of the alleged plot.

The videotape has proved to be hazy and only 70-80% audible.

Defence lawyers there is no evidence on it to support the treason charge.

The application for discharge was set to continue today. - Sapa-AFP.