Zimbabwe opposition leader returns, calls on Mugabe to resign

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who outpolled longtime president Robert Mugabe in the first round of presidential voting in March, called on the longtime leader to resign today as he returned to the troubled country. Tsvangirai plans to contest a runoff election scheduled for June 27, according to the Associated Press. He left Zimbabwe shortly after the election to lobby other African nations for support when the vote count was delayed, raising the specter of fraud. The final official vote count, released five weeks later, showed Tsvangirai ahead, but not by enough to avoid a runoff. Tsvangirai claims he won outright but contends the government tampered with the results. The opposition leader landed in Harare on Saturday and immediately visited a hospital where he visited supporters injured in a wave post-election violence he blamed on the Mugabe government. "I return home to Zimbabwe with a sad heart," he said after the hospital visit, according to the AP. "I have met and listened to the stories of the innocent people targeted by a regime seemingly desperate to cling to power." Independent human rights groups back Tsvangirai's account of the violence, saying the ruling party has beaten and killed his supporters in an effort to keep Mugabe in power. Mugabe, who has headed Zimbabwe's government since independence from Britain in 1980, had been acclaimed worldwide for policies encouraging racial reconciliation and providing opportunities for the country's black majority. But he later was accused of using violence and fraud to hold onto power as the country's economy collapsed, plunging millions into poverty.