Mugabe mob kidnaps wife and child of MDC mayor of Harare

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's onslaught against his opponents widened to include their families when the wife and child of the mayor of Harare were abducted. Armed men raided the house of Emmanuel Chiroto, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and recently elected mayor. They burned down the house with gas bombs and kidnapped his wife, Abigail, 27, and their four-year-old son, Ashley. The boy was released a few hours later, but Mrs. Chiroto is still missing. The incident bore all the hallmarks of a state-organized operation designed to break the MDC's organization by targeting its key figures. Five of the MDC's local organizers have been murdered. But Mr. Chiroto was not at home when the men arrived. The signs were that the operation was deliberately aimed at his family. "They came in two un-marked pick-ups," said Mr. Chiroto, 43. "The maid escaped out the back and heard two bangs. I think it was petrol bombs. The house went up in flames and they took my wife and son. My wife was screaming." Both Mrs. Chiroto and Ashley had been staying away from the house, fearing that it would be attacked by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party. They had returned to the home in the township of Hatcliffe shortly before the raid took place. "She had been at our house for an hour so they were watching it," said Mr. Chiroto. But kidnapping a child does not seem to have entered the gang's plan. Ashley was dropped off by unknown people at a Harare police station a few hours later. Mr. Chiroto said: "He told us 'mummy was blindfolded and they took her to the bush, I don't know whether she was alive or dead'." Harare is an MDC stronghold and the party won 45 of the 46 seats on the city council in the elections held in March. But Ignatius Chombo, the local government minister, refused to allow the councilors formally to take office. They are still banned from entering Harare's city hall. Mr. Chiroto was elected mayor of the city by his fellow MDC councilors during an informal meeting on June 15. Many MDC officials have been abducted since early May. Most were later murdered. Many others are still unaccounted for. Mr. Chiroto fears that his wife may have been killed. At least 60 political murders have been recorded since the presidential election's first round in March. The wave of violence has driven about 50,000 people from their homes. Mugabe faced rare criticism from a fellow African leader when Raila Odinga, the prime minister of Kenya, described Zimbabwe as "an eyesore on the African continent." Odinga also said that the presidential election run-off next week involving Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangari, the MDC leader, had been "pre-rigged."