Report: Zanu-PF plans to kill to win

HARARE, Zimbabwe, July 4 (UPI) -- Leaked minutes show the Zanu-PF Party plans to use assassination to regain its majority in the Zimbabwean parliament, The Times of London reported Friday.

The party, the political base of President Robert Mugabe, also plans to frame members of parliament from the Movement for Democratic Change, the Times said. Once seats become vacant, Zanu-PF would then use violence and voter intimidation to win resulting by-elections, the report said.

The MDC, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, out-polled Zanu-PF in the March 29 elections, winning more seats in the lower house of parliament. Zanu-PF disputed several seats in the courts, but judges refused to overturn those votes.

The Times said it had obtained minutes from a meeting of the Zanu-PF Joint Operation Command.

"We are starting to see a pattern emerge," Nelson Chamisa, the MDC spokesman, said. "This is a consistent, coordinated strategy."

One MDC member of parliament was kidnapped Tuesday outside the High Court in Harare. Ten have been charged with various offenses, and another was beaten into a coma -- an attack that helped trigger Tsvangirai's decision to withdraw from the presidential runoff.