June 5, 2008, 10:51PM

Zimbabwe police chase, detain car full of U.S. envoys

Government also suspends work by aid, relief agencies


Chronicle News Services

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — A high-speed car chase through the Zimbabwean countryside with police in hot pursuit of U.S. diplomats. A phalanx of armed riot police blocking the Americans' car. And threats by supporters of President Robert Mugabe to drag the diplomats from their vehicle at a roadblock, burn the car and kill them.

It reads like a script from a Hollywood thriller, but it actually marked a new low in U.S. relations with Mugabe's regime.

Harare, the capital city, is toughening its security in the lead up to a presidential election runoff on June 27.

The attack, about 25 miles north of Harare, came hours before the government announced it had indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups and nongovernmental organizations.

Relief agencies estimate the prohibition will deprive 2 million people of food aid and other basic assistance.

Last week, the government banned some aid groups from distributing food, accusing them of working with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

On Wednesday, police detained the president's runoff rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, for more than eight hours. He resumed campaigning Thursday.

The diplomats had visited the town of Bindura, collecting firsthand accounts of the regime's violence against opposition supporters.

After fleeing police from Bindura, they said they were confronted by spikes at a roadblock outside the town of Mazowe, surrounded by the riot police and war veterans, threatened and detained for six hours. Their tires were slashed and their Zimbabwean driver was beaten, they added. A car sent by the U.S. Embassy in Harare to help was also detained.

"The people in the car were quite frightened, because there were war veterans threatening to burn the car and kill them," said a U.S. diplomat in Harare.

"It is outrageous. It is unacceptable. And while this immediate incident has been resolved, it will not be forgotten," said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice protested the incident, saying the issue was a matter for the U.N. Security Council.

A spokesman for the Zimbabwean police told The Associated Press the diplomats were not threatened. He said police simply tried to protect the foreigners from an angry mob.

The diplomats were released after the U.S. ambassador, James McGee, who was not among those detained, contacted the Foreign Ministry, demanding they be freed. A British diplomatic vehicle was also initially detained but escaped.

As the crackdown intensifies, few analysts believe the regime will step down should it face defeat in the second round vote.

"It makes it look like this is emerging as a kind of Burma or Myanmar-style crackdown that tends to defy all norms in the surrounding region," said Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa desk at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5821847.html