President Robert Mugabe has vowed that the main opposition party will never lead Zimbabwe and said he was prepared to "go to war" for his country.

He is due to face Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, in a 27 June run-off poll.

The MDC said Mr Tsvangirai had been arrested again while campaigning.

Meanwhile, deputy MDC leader Tendai Biti appeared in court in Harare, where a judge is to rule on the legality of his arrest on treason charges.

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On Saturday, he was held with 11 members of his party at a roadblock, the MDC statement said, and had been taken to a police station.

He gained more votes than Mr Mugabe in the first round of voting in the presidential election in March, but not enough for an outright victory.

Formal protest

Speaking at the burial of a former independence fighter, Mr Mugabe said he would never accept the MDC taking over the government of Zimbabwe.

He described the opposition as "traitors" and referred to Zimbabwe's past struggle for independence from its colonial ruler, Britain, saying the country should not be "lost" again.

"It shall never happen... as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive," he is quoted by AFP as saying.

"We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it."

The Zimbabwean government faces growing pressure from regional leaders over the harassment of opposition leaders two weeks before the presidential run-off election.

On Friday, Botswana lodged a formal protest over the current actions of the Zimbabwean authorities.

Political violence

Mr Biti was arrested on what police said were treason charges when he returned from neighbouring South Africa on Thursday. The charges carry a possible death sentence.

At the time of his arrest, national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Mr Biti would be charged with treason "for publishing a document that was explaining a transitional strategy around March 26".

He said he would also be charged for proclaiming victory in the 29 March elections before official results were published.

The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said the US was very concerned about the treason charge and did not consider it justified.

Mr Tsvangirai said last week that Zimbabwe was "effectively being run by a military junta".

He said more than 60 opposition supporters had been killed in political violence since the March elections and 200 more were unaccounted for.

Mr Mugabe's supporters say the scale of the violence has been exaggerated and blame the MDC for some attacks.

But human rights groups accuse the ruling party of being behind most of the violence.

(BBC)

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