Opposition head ordered jailed until trial

MUTARE, Zimbabwe, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A Zimbabwean judge ordered a senior opposition politician to jail to await his trial, scheduled to begin next week, officials said.

Roy Bennett, a Movement for Democratic Change politician and critic of President Robert Mugabe's policies, was arrested just before he was to take up a post in the power-sharing government, charged with having weapons for sabotage, banditry and terrorism, CNN reported.

"I commit the accused to prison," Magistrate Lucy Mungwari said Wednesday, when announcing her ruling in a courtroom in Mutare, about 185 miles from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital.

"We are really worried by this development," said Bennett's lawyer, Trust Maanda. "We are trying all possibilities to have him released."

A spokesman for Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he has tried to meet with Mugabe since the hearing. However, the prime minister hasn't been granted access by Mugabe's employees, said Tsvangirai's spokesman James Maridadi.

Bennett's arrest in February came as other ministers were being sworn into the coalition government formed by Mugabe and Tsvangirai following a disputed election and months of violence. The arrest nearly derailed the power-sharing deal brokered by the Southern African Development Community.