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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Zimbabwe vote violence 'must end' | Zimbabwe vote violence 'must end' |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for an end to violence by a "criminal cabal" in Zimbabwe ahead of Friday's scheduled presidential election. | |
| He said opposition to Robert Mugabe's regime must be allowed to "express its dissent" in free and fair elections. | He said opposition to Robert Mugabe's regime must be allowed to "express its dissent" in free and fair elections. |
| If that does not happen Zimbabwe would become "more isolated", he warned. | If that does not happen Zimbabwe would become "more isolated", he warned. |
| His comments came ahead of the BBC being told that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had decided to pull out of the presidential run-off. | |
| Mr Tsvangirai's move would hand automatic victory to President Robert Mugabe. | |
| The decision to pull out was taken at a meeting of the leadership of the Movement for Democratic Change in Harare. | |
| The MDC says at least 70 of its supporters have been killed in the run-up to the poll. President Robert Mugabe says the opposition is behind the violence. | |
| In Zimbabwe the opposition had been due to hold a rally after a police ban was overturned. | |
| There will be sanctions from the international community unless the violence stops Gordon Brown | There will be sanctions from the international community unless the violence stops Gordon Brown |
| But supporters of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF occupied the stadium and roads leading up to it - and reportedly beat up opposition activists. | |
| In a pooled interview, Mr Brown said an end to violence was "essential" and that international observers should be allowed into Zimbabwe. | In a pooled interview, Mr Brown said an end to violence was "essential" and that international observers should be allowed into Zimbabwe. |
| "I can say very clearly that we know those people who are perpetrating the violence - this is a criminal cabal that is operating, and there will be sanctions from the international community unless the violence stops." | "I can say very clearly that we know those people who are perpetrating the violence - this is a criminal cabal that is operating, and there will be sanctions from the international community unless the violence stops." |
| He continued: "The regime must allow the opposition to express its dissent, the elections must be held freely and fairly, or Zimbabwe will be further isolated from the international community. | He continued: "The regime must allow the opposition to express its dissent, the elections must be held freely and fairly, or Zimbabwe will be further isolated from the international community. |
| "And I believe that the growing anger in Africa about the behaviour of the Mugabe regime is the best signal we have that things will change. | "And I believe that the growing anger in Africa about the behaviour of the Mugabe regime is the best signal we have that things will change. |
| "They've got to change, but they will change as a result of African opinion." | "They've got to change, but they will change as a result of African opinion." |
| Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, speaking ahead of the news that the election may not happen, called for South Africa to threaten to restrict or cut off electricity supplies to Zimbabwe. | |
| He told the BBC's Politics Show he also wanted to see Britain blocking the transfer of remittance money to Zimbabwe from expatriates resident in the UK. | |
| Mr Clegg, whose party is the third largest in the UK, also said that while there was a "moral case" to intervene militarily in Zimbabwe it was "inconceivable" that it would happen. |