Zimbabwe's authorities Amnesty International demands Tsvangirai's release ...
Zimbabwe's opposition weighs run-off option ... have banned several opposition rallies ahead of the 27 June presidential elections.
The order came after police briefly detained opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second largest city of Bulawayo.
The Movement for Democratic Change cited a police letter that said "several future public rallies" were to be banned because of security fears.
It comes soon after the government banned the distribution of food aid.
The authorities accused aid agencies of helping the opposition.
Relief organisations reject the charges, warning that Zimbabwe's "desperate" situation could get even worse. Some four million people - a third of the population - rely on aid after poor harvests and an economic crisis.
Safety fears
It is not clear how many rallies are affected by the ban, or whether it signals the end of official campaigning by Mr Tsvangirai ahead of the polls.
The MDC says the ban is "rank madness" as the meetings are its only way to communicate with supporters because it is denied access to public media.
In a statement, the party quoted a letter from the police saying that "because the MDC had complained that its leaders were targets for assassination the authorities could not guarantee their safety and were therefore banning several future public rallies".
The government has previously dismissed MDC concerns of a possible assassination threat as fantasy.
The MDC accuses President Robert Mugabe's supporters of leading a campaign of intimidation which has forced thousands from their homes and left at least 65 dead.
Mr Tsvangirai was detained by police for several hours on Friday - the second such incident in three days. On Wednesday, he was stopped and held for eight hours before being released without charge.
Zimbabwe's information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu declined to comment.
(BBC)
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