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Harare: Morgan Tsvangirai, who heads the opposition to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's rule, was in intensive care with a suspected skull fracture yesterday after what he says was a brutal police attack three days ago.
Images of a battered Tsvangirai appearing in court have fuelled world outrage over a crackdown on political protests by Mugabe's government and its treatment of opponents.
The United States condemned the police action as "ruthless and repressive" and regional powerhouse South Africa, which normally avoids direct comment on Zimbabwe's woes, called on Mugabe's government to respect the rule of law.
"He has just had a brain scan because his skull is cracked," spokesman William Bango told Reuters from Tsvangirai's Harare hospital, adding the opposition leader had also needed blood transfusions after he was attacked.
"He will be here for some time. He is in the intensive care unit," Bango said.
Doctors at the Harare Avenues Clinic have not issued any reports on Tsvangirai's health and nursing staff say they do not discuss the condition of individual patients.
Tsvangirai, speaking to a radio reporter from his hospital bed, said he was attacked after arriving at a police station to check on colleagues who had been arrested earlier on Sunday. "It was almost as if they were waiting for me," he said in remarks broadcast on South Africa's national radio. "Before I could even settle down I was subjected to a lot of beatings, in fact it was random beatings, but I think the intention was to inflict as much harm as they could."
Ken Boffard, a specialist surgeon at Johannesburg Hospital in South Africa, said head wounds could be tricky to treat.
"To break a skull needs a huge amount of force because it is a ring, a structure that basically reinforces itself," he told Reuters, adding lengthy time between injury and treatment could increase the possibility of permanent damage.
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