We will arrest you.

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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has threatened to arrest opposition leaders over mounting violence ahead of this month's run-off, as he faces the most serious challenge to his 28-year rule. "Sooner rather than later we are going to accuse the MDC and the party leadership of being liable and responsible for those crimes of violence," he said, a reference to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe, addressing a rally[R] south of Harare, added: "We are telling them we will arrest you in broad daylight."

Of the violence, he said: "There is now a pattern across the country that has to stop." The MDC immediately dismissed Mugabe's threats. "He knows very well we have nothing to do with the violence," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa. "He is the one who has gone about threatening to go back to war if he loses. So while he is accusing us of violence, he is responsible."

The claims marked a further escalation in rhetoric ahead of the presidential run-off vote, with Mugabe warning over the weekend that he was ready to fight to prevent the opposition from coming to power. While Mugabe blames the opposition for the upsurge in violence, the UN has said the president's supporters are responsible for the bulk of it.

The opposition has said that the violence has so far claimed the lives of more than 60 of their supporters since the first round of the presidential election in March. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who faces Mugabe in the run-off, has claimed Zimbabwe is now run by what is essentially a "military junta" that has unleashed a campaign of violence and intimidation throughout the country.

Police have detained Tsvangirai five times over the past couple of weeks and two MDC campaign buses have been seized, though one has since been returned.

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