Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai vows more protests

By Nelson Banya

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader vowed on Wednesday to demand the right to stage marches to press for political reform before presidential and parliamentary elections due in March, despite a court ban.

Just hours after being released by police following five hours of questioning, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, told a rally he would apply to the authorities to march through the capital Harare.

Earlier a magistrates court upheld a police ban on the party's application to march on Wednesday, but allowed the opposition to hold a rally. The police had said that street protests could turn violent.

Some MDC youths were involved in skirmishes with riot police as they walked to the venue of the rally. Witnesses said police beat some of the supporters and threw tear gas to disperse them.

Tsvangirai wants President Robert Mugabe to adopt a new constitution ahead of the polls. His party says it will boycott them if it was not satisfied they would be free and fair.

"This is a journey we have started," he told about 3,000 supporters at the rally as riot police watched from a distance.

"The law allows us to demonstrate and tomorrow I want to go back and apply (again)."

Critics say Mugabe, who has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1980, has used tough security laws to keep his opponents in check. Mugabe denies the charge.