Anti-Mugabe rally turns violent

Harare, August 26

Zimbabwean police on Friday fired tear gas at opposition leaders and hundreds of demonstrators as a protest against President Robert Mugabe descended into one of the worst outbreaks of violence in two decades.

Opposition head Morgan Tsvangirai and former vice-president Joice Mujuru fled the rally in their cars while protesters ran for cover as police firing tear gas and water cannons broke-up the core of the demonstration.

Clashes then spread through the streets of Harare as riot police fought running battles with protesters who hurled rocks at officers, set tyres ablaze and burned a popular market to the ground, in some of the worst unrest since food riots in 1998.

"Mugabe's rule must end now, that old man has failed us," said one protester before throwing a rock at a taxi.

Mugabe's opponents have become emboldened by rising public anger and protests over an economic meltdown, cash shortages and high unemployment. Mugabe, 92, has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. “Demonstrating is the only solution left to force the dictator out of office,” said Tapfuma Make, an unemployed 24-year-old man. — Reuters