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Tsvangirai Crash No Accident, Party Charges

Opposition suspects Mugabe in possible assassination attempt

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 7, 2009 4:06 AM CST

(Newser) – The crash that injured Robert Mugabe's chief political opponent and killed his wife may have been an assassination attempt instead of an accident, members of Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change tell the Daily Telegraph. A statement from the MDC appealed for Zimbabweans to stay calm but observed that many of Mugabe's other opponents have died in suspicious accidents involving trucks.

Tsvangirai—the target of earlier assassination attempts—became prime minister in a power-sharing deal with Mugabe last month, but relations have been tense and there is growing unrest among his supporters in the wake of the crash. Tsvangirai suffered head and neck injuries in his car's head-on collision with a truck and is recovering in hospital.

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The wrecked vehicle lays alongside the road near Harare Saturday, March 7, 2009, after being involved in an accident Friday in which Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai was injured and his wife... (AP Photo)

People pray near the wrecked vehicle, background, near Harare Saturday, March 7, 2009. The vehicle was involved in an accident Friday in which Zimbabwean prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai was injured... (AP Photo)

FILE ** In this Monday, Feb. 3, 2003, file photo Morgan Tsvangirai, right, arrives at the Harare High Court, accompanied by his wife Susan, left. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was injured... (AP Photo/file)

People wait outside at the Avenues Clinic in Harare, Friday, March 6, 2009, where Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's Prime Minster is receiving treatment following a car crash. Morgan Tsvangirai was hurt along... (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Morgan Tsvangirai, left, accompanied by his wife Susan, enter the High Court in Harare, Friday, Oct. 15, 2004. (AP Photo/file)

Morgan Tsvangirai and his wife Susan arrive at the High Court in Harare in this 2003 file photo. Tsvangirai was injured in a car crash Friday, March 6, 2009, and his wife was killed. (AP Photo/file)

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CNN reports on how the death of new PM Morgan Tsvangirai's wife in a car crash has rocked Zimbabwe. (CNN Video)

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Tsvangirai Crash No Accident, Party Charges