man dies after gang attack by Mugabe's party

A security guard died of his injuries Wednesday, hospital officials
said, following a weekend attack by a gang of youths from President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU(PF) in the Zimbabwean capital Harare.

Crispen Mandizvidza was walking a relative home on Sunday night in Harare's
crowded Mbare township when about 50 youths from the party descended on
them, said the officials who asked not to be named. Mandizvidza was forced
to the ground and youths bludgeoned his stomach with crowbars.

The incident came as hundreds of ZANU(PF) youths, bused in from rural areas,
were deployed all over the capital to disrupt meetings held by a
parliamentary committee to canvas the views of ordinary Zimbabweans on what
they want in a new constitution.

Eleven other people were injured, and a 26-year-old woman is still in the
private Avenues Clinic with head injuries.

Witnesses said large numbers of police were deployed, but took no action as
Mugabe's youths hurled stones at supporters of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and attacked them with
iron bars, took over the parliamentary committee's meetings and drove out
white participants.